I urge Congress to pass the Lugar-Pence bill creating a federal privilege for reporters.
"Lack of a federal privilege really undermines all the state privileges, because virtually every state has a reporter's privilege, but if it doesn't apply in a federal court that makes it less certain," said Boutrous, who represented Cooper in the 2005 case.
We need to create a media "shield" law with teeth and substance that creates an effective federal privilege for communications between a journalist and her sources, preventing the government from compelling testimony from the journalist and to protect the documents, records and other information created by the journalist and the actual communications between the journalist and her sources.
But there will be one big difference: Gays who live in states that allow gay marriage may have an array of federal privileges unavailable to those living in states that ban such marriages.
The Patient Safety and Quality Improvement Act of 2005 is a landmark piece of legislation that provides Federal legal privilege and confidentiality protections to information reported in reference to patient safety concerns.
Finally, events during the Bush administration made clear that it was long past time for Congress to create a federal journalist-source privilege.
In a report issued by the New York City Bar Association last fall, we maintained that the arguments favoring a federal common law privilege are overwhelming.
So, for that matter, is the question of whether the confidentiality of sources should be seen as a constitutional right or — as it is in thirty-one states and the District of Columbia but not, unfortunately, at the federal level — a privilege both guaranteed and circumscribed by law.
While access to necessary and lifesaving medical care should be provided to everyone in federal custody, excessive privileges and questionable services should not be included.
Alcatraz, of course, is best known as America's first maximum-security, minimum-privilege federal penitentiary, and that, along with the eerie stories about it, is what drew the Miser to the island on a trip to San Francisco several years ago.
Those benefits included more than 1,000 federal protections and privileges, such as the legal recognition of relationships, access to a partner's employment benefits, rights of inheritance, joint tax returns and tax exemptions, immigration or residency for noncitizen partners, next-of-kin status, protection from domestic violence, and the right to live together in military or college housing.
