DENVER – The state’s newest senator wants to strengthen protections for journalists to protect their sources.
Sen. Bernie Herpin, R-Colorado Springs, said he was motivated by the case of Jana Winter, a Fox News reporter who was subpoenaed for her reporting on the 2012 Aurora theater shooting.
Winter obtained a notebook that accused shooter James Holmes sent to his psychiatrist, detailing how he planned to kill people. His defense attorneys wanted her to testify about which law-enforcement sources gave her the notebook.
A New York court blocked the subpoena based on that state’s shield law, which gives absolute protection to journalists who use confidential sources.
Herpin wants Colorado to adopt the same protections.
“As a staunch defender of constitutional rights, I would be remiss if I saw a weakness in a First Amendment right and did nothing to correct it,” he said.
Herpin was elected largely because of the Second Amendment. He succeeded Sen. John Morse, D-Colorado Springs, who was recalled over his support for gun bills last year.
Herpin’s bill, Senate Bill 34, would offer an absolute legal protection to journalists to protect their secret sources.
For nonconfidential sources, the bill also strengthens protections to make sure that reporters can be compelled to testify only if their information is highly relevant to a case and can’t be obtained from any other source.
Herpin appears to have no opposition, at least yet. The Colorado District Attorney’s Council does not have the bill on its radar, said Tom Raynes, the group’s executive director.
And Colorado Attorney General John Suthers’ staff is still looking at the bill, especially how it will relate to grand jury investigations, said his spokeswoman, Carolyn Tyler.
The bill’s first hearing is Wednesday in the Senate Judiciary Committee.
jhanel@durangoherald.com
