Maryland was the first state to enact a shield law for journalists in 1896 and it could be the first to extend that privilege to student journalists.
Delegate Sandy Rosenberg (D-Baltimore City) introduced Bill 257 to the Maryland House of Representatives last week proposing amendments to a law that already provides certain testimonial privileges to employed journalists.
If passed, the right to refuse to testify as to information or sources obtained during the newsgathering and dissemination process would extend to include postsecondary journalism students.
Rosenberg was motivated to sponsor the bill because of the current court battle between the Medill Innocence Project and Cook County prosecutors over the rights of student journalists.
The Project, run by Professor David Protess, provides undergraduate students with investigative journalism experience through investigating potentially wrongful convictions.
In November 2009, the Cook County state attorney subpoenaed grades, notes and other information developed in the case of Anthony McKinney from Medill students. The students and Protess are claiming protection under the Illinois shield law, the Reporter’s Privilege Act.
“I read in the New York Times what Cook County was doing to those students involved in the Medill Innocence Project and I said, they deserve the protection that professional journalists have,” Rosenberg said. He also explained why he has introduced the bill in Maryland now: “We shouldn’t have to wait until somebody is subpoenaed because by then it’s too late.”
“By specifically protecting student-journalists, the Maryland legislation is an important step in the right direction,” Protess said in an e-mail Friday.
“I hope it will be a model for shield laws across the country. Student-journalists deserve the same legal rights as mainstream reporters, particularly against harassment by prosecutors. If our case proves it be a catalyst for reforms that expand the rights of budding reporters, the battle will have been worth it,” Protess said.
Currently, 37 states and Washington, D.C. have shield laws but none include specific language concerning journalism students. Existing shield laws have been interpreted to include student journalists like in the case of a San Francisco State University student in July 2009.
As reported by the San Francisco Chronicle, the photojournalism student was on an assignment when he witnessed the murder of 21-year-old Norris Bennett. The student refused to surrender his photos and invoked California’s shield law. San Francisco Superior Court Judge Tomar Mason ruled in his favor.
Rosenberg said that “it would be great” if the Maryland bill could be a model for other states to extend their shield laws. Lucy Dalglish, Executive Director of the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, said that while the amendments to the Maryland law would be effective within the region, a federal law would have a wider national affect.
The Free Flow of Information Act of 2009 passed the U.S. House of Representatives last March and is currently awaiting consideration by the Committee of the Judiciary in the U.S. Senate.
If passed, the Act would create a federal shield law that would apply in federal courts. While the current wording of the bill clearly states that the “covered person” be a professional journalist, Dalglish said that the Reporters Committee is helping to craft an amendment that would explicitly include student journalists.
The hearing on the Maryland House Bill will take place on February 10. If enacted, the bill would take effect on October 1, 2010.