Posted on 05/31/2006 1:11:20 PM PDT by SmithL
SAN FRANCISCO - The San Francisco Chronicle is filing a legal motion today to quash federal subpoenas that call on two reporters to identify the source of grand jury testimony they reported in articles about the use of performance-enhancing drugs by Barry Bonds and other star athletes.
If the law was bent or broken by the leaking of the testimony, the motion argues, that damage was more than balanced by the benefits of the articles, which revealed the biggest sports scandal in a generation and led to action by Congress and Major League Baseball.
[Hearst general counsel Eve Burton explains the filed motion in a Chronicle Podcast.]
The reporters, Mark Fainaru-Wada and Lance Williams, could face jail if they refuse to identify their source or sources.
In the motion to quash, to be filed in U.S. District Court in San Francisco, the reporters' attorneys argue that legal precedent and Department of Justice policy require the court to balance free speech against law enforcement interests in deciding whether the subpoenas should stand.
The motion argues that the balance weighs heavily in the reporters' favor because of the results of their reporting and the lack of harm to the case heard by the grand jury, the investigation of the Bay Area Laboratory Co-Operative in Burlingame.
The only crime that might have been committed by leaking the grand jury documents is contempt of court, or violation of a court order, said Eve Burton, general counsel for the Hearst Corp., which owns The Chronicle.
(Excerpt) Read more at sfgate.com ...
" he hit me first!!".. " did not"...did too"
Perhaps they can get Denny Hastert to file a brief on their behalf.
Now for the stupid pubbies to come to the OTHER group who think they are above the law!!!
So it's OK to commit a felony to reveal misdemeanors and rule violations and give Democrats political grandstanding opportunities? ;)
These reporters should be forced to tell the Feds who gave them grand jury testimony. Somebody clearly broke the law in giving the reporters this information.
doesn't the Hatch Act come into play on this stuff?
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