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Finally, a vote on a media shield law?
Looks like pressure is building from top senators of both parties for a vote on a media shield law.
Just in time for Sunshine Week?
Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., and Arlen Specter, R-Pa., urged their party leaders today to call a vote on a bill that would protect a journalist’s confidential sources in most cases.
The House passed a reporter shield bill by a veto-proof 398-21 vote last fall. But the Senate version has been stalled since October because of objections from the administration and Sen. Jon Kyl, R-Ariz.
Click here for Cox Newspapers’ story about Locy’s plight.
Leahy and Specter sent a letter to Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., requesting time for floor debate on the legislation.
“The bipartisan majority support in the House and in the Senate Judiciary Committee demonstrates that federal shield legislation deserves floor time and we urge you to promptly take up the Free Flow of Information Act of 2007,” wrote Leahy and Specter.
The legislation is supported by a wide array of media organizations including the Newspaper Association of America, the Associated Press, the American Society of Newspaper Editors, The New York Times Company, The Washington Post, the New England Press Association, the Vermont Press Association, and the Pennsylvania Newspaper Association.
The main thrust of Kyl’s opposition (which mirrors the administration’s) is concern that the measure would hamper investigations into illegal leaks of classified information as well as efforts to thwart an impending terrorist attack. Another sticking point is whether bloggers should be included in the definition of a reporter.
Attorney General Michael Mukasey recently expressed his “grave concerns” with the House and Senate bills when he testified before the judiciary committees last month.
But meanwhile, Locy is facing financial ruin because Walton may force her to ante up out of her own bank account. Locy is now a professor a West Virginia University.
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