AG Drew Edmondson joins other attorneys general to support reporter shield law

Friday, May 27th 2005, 6:29 am

By: News On 6

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) -- Attorney General Drew Edmondson intends to join attorneys general from more than 30 states in filing a friend-of-the-court brief urging the US Supreme Court to rule on the issue of federal reporter privilege.

The brief stems from a case involving two journalists facing 18 months in jail for refusing to testify as part of an investigation into who divulged the name of CIA officer Valerie Plame.

A federal judge held the reporters in contempt last fall, and an appeals court rejected their argument that the First Amendment shielded them from revealing their sources.

Edmondson says 49 states and the District of Columbia have shield laws protecting reporters' confidential sources.

He says the laws assure the free flow of information to the public and a free and unfettered news-gathering atmosphere for journalists.