Judge hears arguments over Chronicle reporters' subpoenas

A federal judge expressed sympathy Friday for two Chronicle reporters facing subpoenas for their sources of grand jury testimony about steroids in sports, but he said legal precedent works against their request to keep those sources secret.

"I think that you have a very compelling argument'' that courts should recognize a right of journalists to protect their sources, U.S. District Judge Jeffrey White told the reporters' lawyer, Jonathan Donnellan, near the end of a hearing in San Francisco that lasted almost two hours. White observed that most states and an increasing number of foreign nations have adopted laws to protect sources and that the federal government has become "more aggressive in going after reporters.''

But the judge questioned whether he had a free hand to protect Chronicle reporters Mark Fainaru-Wada and Lance Williams because the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 1972 that journalists have no constitutional right to refuse to identify their sources before a grand jury.

Also, he noted, the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco -- which has carved out protections for reporters in certain types of cases since 1972 -- rejected any such exemptions in a 1993 case involving grand jury testimony.

"No case ... has held to the contrary,'' White said, suggesting that as a lower-court judge he was bound by the rulings.

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Jeffrey White Nominated for U.S. District Court Bench
Lecturer Jeffrey S. White has been nominated by President Bush to the federal bench. If confirmed by the U.S. Senate, he will serve as a judge on the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.

White has taught a course in civil trial advocacy at Boalt Hall for more than 20 years and has won the Roscoe Pound Foundation award for Excellence in Teaching Trial Advocacy. He is also a litigation partner at Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe in San Francisco.

"Jeff has been an outstanding teacher and mentor to students at Boalt for decades," says Dean John P. Dwyer '80. "Jeff's nomination recognizes his impressive legal career, and I believe he would make an excellent federal judge. We are proud to have Jeff as part of the Boalt community."

A related story about White's nomination is available in The Recorder (subscription required).

For more information, please contact Chris Bush at 510-643-8215 or cbush@law.berkeley.edu.
(7/29/02)

"I think that you have a very compelling argument'' that courts should recognize a right of journalists to protect their sources, U.S. District Judge Jeffrey White .... White observed that most states and an increasing number of foreign nations have adopted laws to protect sources...''

White, Jeffrey Steven. Nominated by George W. Bush on July 25, 2002

So much for Dubya nominating Judges who don't want to make law or look to *&%^&% "foreign nations"! I wonder how much input the 'conservative' church lady Harriet Miers and bonehead Andy Card had in picking this nimrod.

And it appears the ONLY reason he didn't side with the reporters was that he'd be overturned.

***Someone should ask the judge to define the word "reporter."***

And someone should also ask him to define "Judge".

"But the judge questioned whether he had a free hand to protect..."

"Free Hand"?? WTF is he pondering whether he "has a free hand" to do anything. The SOB acknowledges SCOTUS rulings and even the 9th Circus, yet he's wondering if he "has a free hand".

Hey 'judge', the law is the law, and that's U.S. Law. Not Andorra's, Lichtenstein's or GD Botswana's.

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