Article Abstract:
The US Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit upheld contempt of court citations against four South Carolina journalists who refused to testify in a government case against state Sen J.M. Long. The journalists refused to testify when subpoenaed, arguing that testifying would violate their First Amendment privilege and that the government had not tried to obtain the information it wanted from other sources. The court disagreed, noting the government had not asked the journalists for privileged information and had shown in its investigation of Sen Long that there were no other sources for the information it sought.
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Article Abstract:
A federal district court in Spokane, WA, ordered doctoral student Richard James Scarce jailed in May 1993 for declining to identify confidential sources for his writings about mistreatment of animals during research. Scarce refused to give testimony to a federal grand jury investigating raids on laboratories and farms by environmental activists in 1991 and 1992. Scarce had challenged the grand jury subpoena based on the First Amendment. The court disagreed, holding that government need for the information held precedence.
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Article Abstract:
The US Supreme Court refused in Jan 1993, to review the Florida Supreme Court's decision in Roche v Florida, in which a reporter was found guilty of contempt for printing information from a sealed court order. In this case, it was argued that sending Roche to jail was unconstitutional because Florida's Constitution prohibits punishing anyone who quotes court records. Other jurisdictions, however, are adopting gag rules to discourage court employees from giving reporters any information considered sealed or confidential.
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