What a concept, the press is not above the law. They quite possibly cannot hide behind the shield of the First Amendment to do anything, say anything, write anything without regard to the source. Go Feds. And it normally pains me to side with Uncle Sammy, but in this case, it may be warranted. Or at least good entertainment.
I'd pay some solid money to see sanctimonious pricks like Mike Lupica, Rick Reilly, Jay Moriarty (Ozzie's buddy) , Rick Telander, et al. spend some serious time in jail. Lupica as someone's bitch, that would probably be like art imitating life or something.
Ozzie Guillen rules.
from the Associated Press
SAN FRANCISCO -- The Bush administration urged a federal judge Wednesday to force two San Francisco Chronicle reporters to divulge who leaked them secret grand jury testimony of Barry Bonds and other athletes who took part in the government's probe of the Bay Area Laboratory Co-Operative.
Noting that it is a crime to leak grand jury materials to the media, "there is no reporter's privilege in criminal cases, under the First Amendment or under common law," federal prosecutors Brian Hershman and Michael Raphael wrote in a 51-page brief.
The attorneys said California's shield law protecting California reporters from divulging their sources does not apply to the federal probe of who violated a court order and leaked the documents.
Reporters Lance Williams and Mark Fainaru-Wada reported a series of stories beginning in 2004 detailing the secret testimony of Bonds, Jason Giambi and others who were called to testify before a grand jury probing BALCO. The government's investigation unveiled BALCO as a steroid ring posing as a nutritional supplement company that doled out performance-enhancing drugs to elite athletes from its office just south of San Francisco.
The government, in its brief targeting the two reporters, repeatedly cited a 1972 decision by the U.S. Supreme Court. In that case, Branzburg v. Hayes, Justice Byron White ruled that reporters, like everyone else, must "respond to relevant questions put to them in the course of a valid grand jury investigation or criminal trial."
Despite that decision, the government noted that "the free press, relying on confidential sources, has thrived."
Over the years Branzburg was largely ignored. Judges more often sided with Justice Lewis Powell, who wrote separately in the same case. He urged the judiciary, before ordering reporters to testify, to balance the First Amendment rights of journalists against the public's right to know.
That changed in 2003, when the Chicago Sun-Times and Chicago Tribune lost a bid to protect their reporters from divulging recordings of interviews of a witness in a terrorism case. A federal appeals court, citing Branzburg, ordered disclosure.
The Chronicle reporters, who are subpoenaed to testify here before a federal grand jury about how they got the leaked testimony, said through their attorneys in court briefs last month that they should be let off the hook. The First Amendment right of speech, they said, was more important than the government learning who unlawfully leaked secret grand jury testimony.
Both Fainaru-Wada and Williams say they aren't going to comply with the subpoena, which means they could be fined and jailed until they reveal their sources if they lose their legal challenge. The reporters also could be jailed for a fixed term for contempt if U.S. District Judge Jeffrey White forces them to appear before the grand jury.
They face more jail time than any of the five BALCO defendants, as the largest prison term was four months.
A hearing before U.S. District Judge Jeffrey White is scheduled for Aug. 4.
The government also suspected the leak came from Victor Conte, BALCO's founder who pleaded guilty to steroid distribution charges and was sentenced to four months.
Agents last year searched his San Mateo house to bolster that view. Conte and others pointed to the government as the source.
According to the two reporters, Bonds testified that he used substances provided by his trainer, Greg Anderson, but said he thought it was flaxseed oil. Anderson was among the five defendants convicted in the BALCO probe.
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