Bills to provide a federal shield law for journalists
The “Free Flow of Information Act of 2007” , S. 2035, was introduced in Oct. by Sen. Arlen Specter R-PA with 6 cosponsors. The govtrac reference is here.
The CRS summary is here.
The bill provides some reasonable protections to journalists of their sources. Defines “covered person” as a person engaged in journalism, including their supervisor, employer, parent, subsidiary, or affiliate. It’s not clear that this would include “amateur” bloggers.
The text is here.
An earlier version was introduced in May 2007 by Richard Lugar R-IN, link here.
The house version is H.R. 2102 , same title, introduced by Frederick Boucher (D-Va), link here.
The House also has a resolution to consider the bill, introduced by Louise Slaughter D-NY:, here.