Jail time likely for journalists
"It is shocking that for doing some routine news gathering on an important public issue, keeping her word to her sources, and without even publishing a story about the CIA agent, Judy finds herself facing a prison sentence," Times publisher and company president Arthur Sulzberger Jr. said in a prepared statement. "That 49 states and many countries around the globe provide broad protection for journalists who have promised confidentiality to their sources makes today's decision even more disappointing."
Miller, in the same statement, said she is "extremely disappointed."
Time magazine, meanwhile, said it will ask Hogan to "reassess the privilege issues," as well as look into Fitzgerald's motivation in shifting focus of his investigation from tracking down a leaker whose outing of Plame may have broken the law to putting journalists in jail for contempt.
"Statements from the special counsel's office suggest his investigation has changed substantially since last summer, when he presented secret evidence to the district court," Time said in a prepared statement, adding that "there is reason to believe" that Fitzgerald has determined that the disclosure of Plame's name to Novak did not violate any law.
"If that is correct, his desire to know the sources for a subsequent article by Mr. Cooper and others . . . may be solely related to an investigation into whether witnesses made false statements during the course of [Fitzgerald's] investigation into this non-crime. Such an investigation of obstruction of justice or perjury may not rise to the level that justifies disclosure of information from or about a reporter's confidential sources under federal common law."
A bipartisan group of attorneys general from 34 states and the District of Columbia had encouraged the Supreme Court to take on the Miller-Cooper case to clarify a journalist's right to "keep sources confidential," as Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal said.
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