Etcetera

More than one way to skin a cat

Peter Scheer, in an article in Slate, has proposed an alternative way for the media to protect sources, given the Administration's antipathy to a free press.

But journalists have been so mired in the debate about the First Amendment protections they lack, that they have overlooked the protections the rest of the Constitution might afford. Because if the First Amendment can no longer be counted upon to keep reporters out of jail, invoking the Fifth Amendment privilege—refusing to disclose the name of a confidential source because doing so could be self-incriminating—may well succeed in protecting both the source and the reporter.

Posted by jackhodgson at July 7, 2006 10:24 AM