Other voices: Time to pass a federal shield law

Forty-nine states have enacted some version of a “shield law,” preventing the government from forcing reporters to reveal their notes or sources. It’s well past time that the folks inside the Beltway followed suit.

Shield law protections give life to the First Amendment. If the government can compel reporters, editors and other members of the media to divulge confidential sources or research files, this will effectively discourage whistleblowers and others from coming forward, undermining the ability of the press to hold public officials accountable for questionable or even illegal acts.

Allowing the government to do an end-run around the Bill of Rights is anathema to a free and healthy democratic republic.

“For the press to be truly free, as the First Amendment guarantees,” said Tim Wheeler, who chairs the Society of Environmental Journalists Freedom of Information Task Force, “journalists need to be able to safeguard the confidentiality of sources whose information helps hold government to account.”

There are few elected officials in our nation’s capital who would publicly offer an opposing viewpoint. Yet Congress for decades has been unable to muster the will to pass a shield law, enshrining these vital First Amendment protections at the federal level. That must change.

This year has brought encouraging developments. In July, the House passed the PRESS Act without a dissenting vote. One of the bill’s sponsors, Rep. Jamie Raskin, a Democrat from Maryland, explained to Quill, a publication from the Society of Professional Journalists, that the legislation “is an attempt to draw a line around journalists to protect their work and their information from government intrusion and harassment. There are exceptions in the legislation for cases of terrorism and threats of imminent violence and harm, but absent that, the PRESS Act protects journalistic privilege.”

Unfortunately, the measure has since stalled in the Senate despite enjoying support from a bipartisan coalition — and time for action is running out on the current Congress.

The Hill reports that Sen. Tom Cotton, an Oklahoma Republican, has helped block the proposal by opposing a unanimous consent vote. He has previously voiced concerns about the PRESS Act leading to “a floodgate of leaks damaging to law enforcement and our nation’s security.” Other observers believe Sen. Cotton’s intransigence is the result of a general animosity toward left-leaning journalists.

Neither objection passes muster. The legislation is ideologically neutral, protecting reporters and editors regardless of their politics. As for compromising law enforcement or national security, that’s absurd. A greater danger would be to erode the very freedoms that protect American citizens from the perils of government overreach while shielding the state from scrutiny.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, who has supported the bill, should make it a priority as the session winds down, even if that means less time for other Democratic priorities. We trust it will pass overwhelmingly, with Nevada’s two senators, Jacky Rosen and Catherine Cortez Masto, on board. Congress has fiddled for long enough on this important legislation. The time to act is now.

— The Las Vegas Review-Journal