NH Supreme Court Hears Case On Protections For Anonymous Sources Online

fulldecent writes "The New Hampshire Supreme Court heard oral arguments Wednesday in a lawsuit that calls into question the legal protections available to independent Web sites that cover news. The case involves mortgage lender Implode-Explode, a Las Vegas-based site launched in 2007 that publishes stories about the meltdown of the mortgage industry. Associate Justice Carol Ann Conboy pressed the point with [defense lawyer Jeremy Eggleton], questioning, 'Can anyone who posts a blog be considered a reporter,' for the purposes of claiming protection of anonymous sources? Eggleton answered yes, within limits: 'The test is whether the person has an intention to gather, analyze and disseminate.'"

Comments

Re:Begging the question

[KiahZero]

Under federal law, reporters aren't given special rights to protect their sources. Reporters (somewhat infrequently) have to go to jail to protect their sources, as Judith Miller did during the Plame-leak investigation. New Hampshire's Supreme Court appears to have previously ruled that the state constitution provides some level of privilege, arguing that "[o]ur constitution quite consciously ties a free press to a free state, for effective self-government cannot succeed unless the people have access to an unimpeded and uncensored flow of reporting. News gathering is an integral part of the process."

As for your second question, the reason priests, lawyers, and doctors are permitted under the Federal Rules of Evidence (and, as far as I'm aware, state evidence law), is because of the special relationships these professions have with their clients. Independent judgments have been made, over the years, that forcing these specific categories of people to reveal their confidences learned in the course of their job would be harmful to society. A similar rationale is used for the other type of privilege you left off the list - spousal.

Of course, as I write this, I see your name is "BadAnalogyGuy," so perhaps you were simply being true to your name rather than making a sincere argument.