Shield Laws and Protection Of sources
Alabama
Alaska
Arizona
Arkansas
California
Colorado
Connecticut
Delaware
Florida
Georgia
Hawaii
Idaho
Illinois
Indiana
Iowa
Kansas
Kentucky
Louisiana
Maine
Maryland
Massachusetts
Michigan
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Mississippi
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Montana
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New
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New Mexico
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North Dakota
Ohio
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Pennsylvania
Rhode Island
South Carolina
South Dakota
Tennessee
Texas
Utah
Vermont
Virginia
Washington
West Virginia
Wisconsin
Wyoming
Shield Laws?
Qualified or Absolute Privileges?
State
Shield Laws in Your State!
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Shield laws protect journalists from being legally obligated to reveal their sources. Source anonymity is a vital part of journalism.
Click here for each state's specific shield laws!
-Currently, the only state law that explicitly includes student reporters is West Virginia. However most courts recognize student reporters with their professional counterparts.
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-Privacy Protection Act (1980) --> The PPA created financial consequences for government officials who search and/or seize a journalist’s work, as well as prevent such intrusions before they occur.
Student Press Law Center's Student Media Guide to the Privacy Protection Act
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From the PPA:
“For searches/seizures conducted by state or local government officials, such as public university or high school administrators, a claim can be brought against the official’s supervising agency or department.”
-The PPA does not specifically include student media, however, it does state “that only those individuals engaged in the dissemination of information to the public who are “in or affecting interstate or foreign commerce” are protected.
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The PPA provides protection at both the federal and state level however, there are states that have similar or greater protections.
States with these protections include:
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California
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Connecticut
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Illinois
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Nebraska
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New Jersey
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Oregon
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Texas
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Washington
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Ask to see the warrant/Stall the search
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Refer to the law (The SPLC recommends keeping a copy of the PPA in your newsroom)
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Ask for help from the SPLC/other legal help
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Document and legally challenge the search
What should you do if the police/government officials try to search your student newsroom?
Cellphone Seizure:
Riley v California (2014) clarified that the Fourth Amendment prohibits police from deep diving into cell phones without a warrant due to the great intrusion of privacy that it includes. If you are keeping news gathering information on your phone and the police demand it, be sure to mention the PPA and your rights to cell phone privacy. However, if you are keeping confidential news gathering information on a cell phone and phones are not allowed on campus, it does not give you the right to not have your phone seized by school officials.
Public vs. Private Institutions
In public schools, there is a first amendment privilege with few limitations
Limitations include:
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highly relevant information
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Information that is necessary for the maintenance of the claim
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Information is not obtainable from other sources
In private schools, there is no first amendment privilege, however, they may rely on other legal protections as well as an argument on censorship and public pressure in order to deter private school officials.