ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the statutes and judicial opinions that shield journalists from contempt citations if they refuse to testify. It discusses congressional subpoenas, government access to journalists' telephone records, and police searches of newsrooms. All states provide testimonial privileges to certain communications. Thus far, 38 states and the District of Columbia have granted a statutory testimonial privilege to journalists. The Supreme Court has passed up several opportunities to overturn the lower courts' grant of a constitutional privilege to journalists. Three years after the Branzburg decision, Congress enacted the Federal Rules of Evidence, including Rule 501, which provides the privilege of a witness "shall be governed by the principles of the common law as they may be interpreted by the courts of the United States in the light of reason and experience". The Tennessee Supreme Court, has ruled that the state's statute protecting "any information or the source of any information" from disclosure protects journalists whether or not they promise confidentiality.
