Court Opinion

ID: 9456277
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-04 19:47:34.029075+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:34:54.881844
License: Public Domain

JAMESON, District Judge
(concurring) :
This case presents narrow issues in the “delicate and difficult” task of reconciling the First Amendment guarantee of freedom of the press with the fair administration of justice, including the broad investigatory power of a grand jury and the obligation of a witness to testify. While perhaps unnecessary for a determination of this appeal, it is helpful, in my opinion, to note the guidelines for resolving conflicts in this sensitive area, as summarized by Judge, now *1091Mr. Justice, Stewart, in Garland v. Torre, 259 F.2d 545, 548-549 (2d Cir.) cert. denied 358 U.S. 910, 79 S.Ct. 237, 3 L.Ed.2d 231 (1958):
“But freedom of the press, precious and vital though it is to a free society, is not an absolute. What must be determined is whether the interest to be served by compelling the testimony of the witness in the present ease, justifies some impairment ,of this First Amendment freedom. That kind of determination often presents a ‘delicate and difficult’ task. (Citing cases). * * *
“* «• Freedom of the press, hard-won over the centuries by men of courage, is basic to a free society. But basic too are courts of justice, armed with the power to discover truth. The concept that it is the duty of a witness to testify in a court of law has roots fully as deep in our history as does the guarantee of a free press.
“It would be a needless exercise in pedantry to review here the historic development of that duty. Suffice it to state that at the foundation of the Kepublic the obligation of a witness to testify and the correlative right of a litigant to enlist judicial compulsion of testimony were recognized as incidents of the judicial power of the United States. (Citing cases). * * *
“Without question, the exaction of this duty impinges sometimes, if not always, upon the First Amendment freedoms of the witness. Material sacrifice and the invasion of personal privacy are implicit in its performance. The freedom to choose whether to speak or be silent disappears.
“If an additional First Amendment liberty — the freedom of the press — is here involved, we do not hesitate to conclude that it too must give place under the Constitution to a paramount public interest in the fair administration of justice. * *
As stated in the court’s opinion (note 6) Garland v. Torre was a civil action for libel.1 The obligation to appear and testify is even stronger and the scope of inquiry is broader in grand jury investigations.2
The First Amendment rights of appellant were recognized fully by Judge Zirpoli in providing for the protective order discussed in the court’s opinion. While not conceding the validity or propriety of the qualified privilege granted appellant, the Government did not seek review of that order on this appeal.3
*1092The order entered by the district court is adequate to protect any unnecessary impingement of First Amendment rights after the appearance of the witness before the grand jury. Accordingly we are concerned with the narrow question of whether the Government’s showing of a “compelling and overriding national interest that cannot be served by any alternative means” may be required in advance of the issuance of a subpoena.
Appellant did not have any express constitutional right to decline to appear before the grand jury. This is a duty required of all citizens. Nor has Congress enacted legislation to accord any type of privilege to a news reporter.4 In my opinion the order of the district court could properly be affirmed, and this would accord with the customary procedure of requiring a witness to seek a protective order after appearing before the grand jury. I have concluded, however, that Judge Merrill’s opinion properly holds that the same result may be achieved by requiring the Government to demonstrate the compelling need for the witness’s presence prior to the issuance of a subpoena and in this manner avoid any unnecessary impingement of First Amendment rights.
As Judge Merrill has suggested, this is a case of first impression. It would seem that the district court could develop procedures which would not unduly hamper or interfere with the investigatory powers of the grand jury. The Government would have the same burden, except that it would make its showing at a hearing in advance of the issuance of subpoenas rather than after the witness appears and seeks a protective order.

. As Judge Merrill’s opinion notes, Garland v. Torre did not involve the “use of the judicial process to force a wholesale disclosure of a newspaper’s confidential sources of news nor with a case where the identity of the news source is of doubtful relevance or materiality.”

. In distinguishing between investigations by a grand jury and those conducted hy commissions created by Congress, Mr. Justice Douglas noted that the grand jury is the “only accusatory body in the Federal Government that is recognized by the Constitution,” and that “ [I] t has broad investigational powers to look into what may be offensive against federal criminal law.” Dissenting opinion in Hannah v. Larche, 363 U.S. 420, 499, 80 S.Ct. 1502, 1549, 4 L.Ed.2d 1307 (1960).

. At oral argument counsel for the Government submitted a press release from the Attorney General setting forth new Department of Justice guidelines for subpoenas to the news media, in which it is expressly recognized that the “Department does not approve of utilizing the press as a spring board for investigations”, and which provide, inter alia, that, “[Tjhere should be sufficient reason to believe that the information sought is essential to a successful investigation — particularly with reference to directly establishing guilt or innocence”; that “[T]he government should have unsuccessfully attempted to obtain the information from alternative non-press sources”; that subpoenas “should normally be limited to the verification of published information and to such surroundinig circumstances as relate to the accuracy of the published information”; and that “subpoenas should, wherever possible, be directed at *1092material information regarding a limited subject matter, should cover a reasonably limited period of time, and should avoid requiring production of a large volume of unpublished material.” John N. Mitchell, “Free Press and Fair Trial: The Subpoena Controversy,” an address before House of Delegates, American Bar Association. (August 10, 1970).

. Several states have enacted legislation granting qualified privileges to newsmen.