ACCESS AND PRIVILEGE

• Garland v. Torre (1958): A journalist, Marie Torre, refused to reveal her source for a story about actress Judy Garland. The court ruled that the journalist did not have a First Amendment right to withhold the source’s name in this situation because the information was directly relevant to the case, and there was no other way to obtain it. This case established a precedent that a reporter’s privilege is not absolute.
• Branzburg v. Hayes (1972): The Supreme Court addressed whether a journalist has a First Amendment right to refuse to testify before a grand jury. The Court held that the First Amendment does not grant journalists an absolute privilege to refuse to reveal confidential sources when subpoenaed to testify in a criminal grand jury proceeding. However, a key concurring opinion suggested that a qualified privilege might exist in other circumstances.
• Houchins v. KQED (1978): A television station sought greater access to a county jail to report on its conditions. The Supreme Court ruled that the First Amendment does not guarantee the press special access to government-controlled information or institutions, like prisons, beyond what is available to the general public.
• Shoen v. Shoen (1995): This case explored whether an investigative book author had a journalist’s privilege to protect their sources. The court ruled that the journalist’s privilege could be extended to an investigative book author but affirmed a three-part test to determine if the privilege should be overcome: the information must be highly relevant, unobtainable from other sources, and crucial to the claim.
•