Bill Text: CA SB558 | 2013-2014 | Regular Session | Chaptered
Bill Title: Reporters' shield law.
Spectrum: Bipartisan Bill
Status: (Passed) 2013-10-03 - Chaptered by Secretary of State. Chapter 519, Statutes of 2013. [SB558 Detail]
Download: California-2013-SB558-Chaptered.html
BILL NUMBER: SB 558 CHAPTERED
BILL TEXT
CHAPTER 519
FILED WITH SECRETARY OF STATE OCTOBER 3, 2013
APPROVED BY GOVERNOR OCTOBER 3, 2013
PASSED THE SENATE SEPTEMBER 4, 2013
PASSED THE ASSEMBLY AUGUST 26, 2013
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY AUGUST 12, 2013
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY JUNE 25, 2013
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY JUNE 6, 2013
AMENDED IN SENATE MAY 1, 2013
INTRODUCED BY Senator Lieu
(Coauthor: Assembly Member Wagner)
FEBRUARY 22, 2013
An act to amend Section 1986.1 of the Code of Civil Procedure,
relating to reporters.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SB 558, Lieu. Reporters' shield law.
The reporter's shield law contained in the California Constitution
prohibits a publisher, editor, reporter, or other person connected
with or employed by a newspaper, magazine, or other periodical
publication, or by a press association or wire service, from being
held in contempt for refusing to disclose the source of any
information procured for publication while so connected or employed.
The law also prohibits any of those persons from being held in
contempt for refusing to disclose any unpublished information
obtained or prepared in gathering, receiving, or processing
information for communication to the public.
Existing statutory law prohibits any testimony or other evidence
given by a journalist under subpoena in a civil or criminal
proceeding from being construed as a waiver of the immunity rights
provided by the reporter's shield law. Existing law requires that,
except in exigent circumstances, a journalist who is subpoenaed in
any civil or criminal proceeding be given at least 5 days' notice by
the party issuing the subpoena that his or her appearance will be
required, and requires a court that holds a journalist in contempt in
a criminal proceeding to set forth specified findings regarding the
information sought.
This bill, in addition, would require that, except in
circumstances that pose a clear and substantial threat to the
integrity of the criminal investigation or present an imminent risk
of death or serious bodily harm, a party issuing a subpoena in any
civil or criminal proceeding to a third party that seeks the records
of a journalist to provide notice of the subpoena to the journalist
and the publisher of the newspaper, magazine, or other publication or
station operations manager of the broadcast station that employs or
contracts with the journalist, as applicable, at least 5 days prior
to issuing the subpoena. The bill would require the party issuing the
subpoena to include in the notice, at a minimum, an explanation of
why the requested records will be of material assistance to the party
seeking them and why alternate sources of information are not
sufficient to avoid the need for the subpoena. The bill also would
revise the exception for the existing 5 days' notice requirement for
a subpoena requiring a journalist to appear, providing that the
requirement applies except in circumstances that pose a clear and
substantial threat to the integrity of the criminal investigation or
present an imminent risk of death or serious bodily harm.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 1986.1 of the Code of Civil Procedure is
amended to read:
1986.1. (a) No testimony or other evidence given by a journalist
under subpoena in a civil or criminal proceeding may be construed as
a waiver of the immunity rights provided by subdivision (b) of
Section 2 of Article I of the California Constitution.
(b) (1) Because important constitutional rights of a third-party
witness are adjudicated when rights under subdivision (b) of Section
2 of Article I of the California Constitution are asserted, except in
circumstances that pose a clear and substantial threat to the
integrity of the criminal investigation or present an imminent risk
of death or serious bodily harm, a journalist who is subpoenaed in
any civil or criminal proceeding shall be given at least five days'
notice by the party issuing the subpoena that his or her appearance
will be required.
(2) To protect against the inadvertent disclosure by a third party
of information protected by Section 2 of Article I of the California
Constitution, a party issuing a subpoena in any civil or criminal
proceeding to a third party that seeks the records of a journalist
shall, except in circumstances that pose a clear and substantial
threat to the integrity of the criminal investigation or present an
imminent risk of death or serious bodily harm, provide notice of the
subpoena to the journalist and the publisher of the newspaper,
magazine, or other publication or station operations manager of the
broadcast station that employs or contracts with the journalist, as
applicable, at least five days prior to issuing the subpoena. The
party issuing the subpoena shall include in the notice, at a minimum,
an explanation of why the requested records will be of material
assistance to the party seeking them and why alternate sources of
information are not sufficient to avoid the need for the subpoena.
(c) If a trial court holds a journalist in contempt of court in a
criminal proceeding notwithstanding subdivision (b) of Section 2 of
Article I of the California Constitution, the court shall set forth
findings, either in writing or on the record, stating at a minimum,
why the information will be of material assistance to the party
seeking the evidence, and why alternate sources of the information
are not sufficient to satisfy the defendant's right to a fair trial
under the Sixth Amendment to the United States Constitution and
Section 15 of Article I of the California Constitution.
(d) As used in this section, "journalist" means the persons
specified in subdivision (b) of Section 2 of Article I of the
California Constitution.
