[jimboster]

why would Miller and Cooper risk jail to cover for Rove?

They never did. If it is Rove, the reporters never had any intention of going to jail. It was decided long ago that if the Supreme Court found against them or refused to hear the case, Time Magazine management(not the reporters themselves) would release the notes. This gives the reporters the opportunity to act outraged and claim they would never have revealed the information themselves. Time Magazine and the NY Times drew straws to see who'd hand the notes over to the Court. Time lost.

[mcg1969]

The only problem with your scenario is that you forget about the money factor. Lawyers aren't free. Those reporters may never have been willing to stick their necks out for Rove, but apparently Time Magazine was apparently willing to spend large sums of money on this case anyway---despite the fact, I might add, that existing Supreme Court precedent was quite clear that these reporters were not protected from contempt charges.