ACLU Calls On Senate To Pass House Version Of Shield Law

By John Eggerton -- Broadcasting & Cable, 11/2/2007 8:24:00 AM

The American Civil Liberties Union has asked Senate leadership to to vote for the House version of a federal shield law.

In a letter to the legislators, the ACLU backed the House version as the "stronger stand" for freedom of the press.

The House and Senate passed different versions of a shield bill, which protects reporters and their sources, but the Senate version was weakened in an effort to secure passage. The two bills must be reconciled and voted on in each House, or one of the two chosen and voted on by one or the other, before it can become law.

Protections in the House bill that did not make it to the Senate version, according to ACLU, include requiring a judge in all cases to balance the need for making the reporter's work produce public with the  interest in preserving source confidentiality and requiring that informatoin sought under the invocation of national security be necessary to prevent an act of terroris or other threat.

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