Court Overturns Previous Decision Affording NYT "First Amendment Privilege" In Terrorist-Tipping Cases

Remember the Holy Land Foundation scandal, where two NYT reporters (one of them Judith Miller) called the HLF to get their reaction to a coming federal raid?

Not once, but twice?

Tipping them off as to imminent seizure of evidence?

A previous court held that the NYT had some sort of "First Amendment Privilege" to refuse a subpoena to disclose phone records and the like, and that that that privilege even extended to third-party telephone service providers (i.e., you also couldn't just go to the telephone company for the numbers if the NYT gave you the finger).

Well, that last part the court upheld-- to the extent the NYT does have such a privilege, the third-party telephone provider is also covered by the privilege.

But, as to the rest: they don't have such a privilege under the facts of the case. Remand, baby!

They don't have such a privilege under the facts of this case, so the telephone co's have the same privilege, i.e., none at all.

Merry Fitzmas?

posted by Ace at 09:27 PM

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