Judge to Media: Reveal Wen Ho Lee Sources (Novak are you listening

[Noordam]

AP News

Judge to Media: Reveal Wen Ho Lee Sources
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Published: October 14, 2003


Filed at 6:28 p.m. ET

WASHINGTON (AP) -- A federal judge has ordered five reporters, including one from The Associated Press, to reveal their sources for stories that portrayed Wen Ho Lee, a former nuclear weapons scientist, as a chief suspect in a Chinese espionage investigation.

U.S. District Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson ordered the reporters to answer questions about their sources and to provide Lee's attorneys with notes and other documents from their reporting.

..more at article....

[AP]

1. Isnt TPJ the Microsoft anti-trust judge? A republican who clearly

acted like he thought Microsoft was a monopoly. He spoke to Toobin about the case, was it? He got kicked off the case, or something like that. Microsoft ended up with a more favorable settlement under a different judge.

Was that the story?

[damnraddem]

2. No, no! Novak's a conservative who spouts the Bushista line.

So he's above the law. This only applies to reporters from the 'librul media.'

[JackSwift]

3. Yes, Jackson is the first Microsoft Judge

and he was an idiot to speak to the press on a case he was handling. It sounds to me like he gets so angry when the facts come out that he can't control himself. And he is just wrong the disclosure of sources here. I've been in the media and my law practice includes plenty of free press issues. There isn't a ghost of a chance that Jackson is right on disclosing confidential sources.

[0007]

4. Then where is the justice for Wen Ho Lee?

This guy got screwed pretty good, and even the FBI was caught lying under oath. Wasn't this affair fixed to make Clinton look bad.

[The Backlash Cometh]

5. It's about time!

I always suspected that our good friends, the right-wing conspiracy, were behind the planting of these stories.

[Gin]

6. If there is a civil suit...can't they be made to disclose the information?

gin

[berry]

7. After reading this thread, I don't know what to think of the chances

that Mr. Lee will get any redress, but I wish there were some way for the press to admit that it was WAY out of bounds (and maybe even make a story out of "bum steers" it got from malicious leakers?). I remember reading or hearing that it was the NYT that was leading the charge against Lee. I'm pretty sure they'll never admit to having done anything wrong in this case. Sigh.

I'm all for the protection of the press, but there are times when there are press abuses that are simply appalling. Novak is one such (did you see the LTE today in the NYT from an emeritus dean of Columbia School of Journalism smashing Novak?). The NYT on Wen Ho Lee is another. But if the leakers lied or broke laws, is the confidentiality inviolable? I don't think so. (What about doctor-patient confidentiality in the case of a crime commited? And could a doctor be forced to testify or release records? Is there a parallel here? It's different for lawyers of course because of the presumption of innocence, and the lawyer's role in defense.)

I don't buy the argument that a journalist would never be trusted with leaks again. But even if it were true, surely an ethical journalist should risk it. There are many kinds of leak, and any sensible journalist should be able to figure out when s/he is being used for unethical purposes. IMO, Novak was wrong not to question the motives of the leaker, wrong to print the name, and wrong not to tell the FBI who leaked. I am less sure of the possible motives of the leaker/s in the Lee case, but my heart goes out to Lee and his family.