II 

109TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 369

To establish protections against compelled disclosure of sources, and news 

or information, by persons providing services for the news media. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

FEBRUARY 14, 2005

Mr. DODD introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to 

the Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL

To establish protections against compelled disclosure of 

sources, and news or information, by persons providing 

services for the news media.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Free Speech Protection 

5 Act of 2005’’. 

6 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

7 In this Act: 

8 (1) COVERED PERSON.—The term ‘‘covered 

9 person’’ means a person who—
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1 (A) engages in the gathering of news or in2 formation; and 

3 (B) has the intent, at the beginning of the 

4 process of gathering news or information, to 

5 disseminate the news or information to the pub6 lic. 

7 (2) NEWS OR INFORMATION.—The term ‘‘news 

8 or information’’ means written, oral, pictorial, photo9 graphic, or electronically recorded information or 

10 communication concerning local, national, or world11 wide events, or other matters. 

12 (3) NEWS MEDIA.—The term ‘‘the news media’’ 

13 means—

14 (A) a newspaper; 

15 (B) a magazine; 

16 (C) a journal or other periodical; 

17 (D) radio; 

18 (E) television; 

19 (F) any means of disseminating news or 

20 information gathered by press associations, 

21 news agencies, or wire services (including dis22 semination to the news media described in sub23 paragraphs (A) through (E)); or 
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1 (G) any printed, photographic, mechanical, 

2 or electronic means of disseminating news or in3 formation to the public. 

4 SEC. 3. COMPELLED DISCLOSURE PROHIBITED. 

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in section 4, 

6 no entity of the judicial, legislative, or executive branch 

7 of the Federal Government with the power to issue a sub8 poena or provide other compulsory process shall compel 

9 any covered person who is providing or has provided serv10 ices for the news media to disclose—

11 (1) the source of any news or information pro12 cured by the person, or any information that would 

13 tend to identify the source, while providing services 

14 for the news media, whether or not the source has 

15 been promised confidentiality; or 

16 (2) any news or information procured by the 

17 person, while providing services for the news media, 

18 that is not itself communicated in the news media, 

19 including any—

20 (A) notes; 

21 (B) outtakes; 

22 (C) photographs or photographic negatives; 

23 (D) video or sound tapes; 

24 (E) film; or 
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1 (F) other data, irrespective of its nature, 

2 that is not itself communicated in the news 

3 media. 

4 (b) SUPERVISORS, EMPLOYERS, AND PERSONS AS5 SISTING A COVERED PERSON.—The protection from com6 pelled disclosure described in subsection (a) shall apply to 

7 a supervisor, employer, or any person assisting a person 

8 covered by subsection (a). 

9 (c) RESULT.—Any news or information obtained in 

10 violation of the provisions of this section shall be inadmis11 sible in any action, proceeding, or hearing before any enti12 ty of the judicial, legislative, or executive branch of the 

13 Federal Government. 

14 SEC. 4. COMPELLED DISCLOSURE PERMITTED. 

15 (a) NEWS OR INFORMATION.—A court may compel 

16 disclosure of news or information described in section 

17 3(a)(2) and protected from disclosure under section 3 if 

18 the court finds, after providing notice and an opportunity 

19 to be heard to the person or entity from whom the news 

20 or information is sought, that the party seeking the news 

21 or information established by clear and convincing evi22 dence that—

23 (1) the news or information is critical and nec24 essary to the resolution of a significant legal issue 

25 before an entity of the judicial, legislative, or execu-
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1 tive branch of the Federal Government that has the 

2 power to issue a subpoena; 

3 (2) the news or information could not be ob4 tained by any alternative means; and 

5 (3) there is an overriding public interest in the 

6 disclosure. 

7 (b) SOURCE.—A court may not compel disclosure of 

8 the source of any news or information described in section 

9 3(a)(1) and protected from disclosure under section 3. 

10 SEC. 5. ACTIVITIES NOT CONSTITUTING A WAIVER. 

11 The publication by the news media, or the dissemina12 tion by a person while providing services for the news 

13 media, of a source of news or information, or a portion 

14 of the news or information, procured in the course of pur15 suing professional activities shall not constitute a waiver 

16 of the protection from compelled disclosure that is de17 scribed in section 3.

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