PA. SUPREME COURT Ruling: 2 reporters' notes not protected by shield law

The trial judge will reconsider the fines against two reporters.
HARRISBURG (AP) -- The state's so-called shield law does not protect reporters from having to disclose the content of unpublished notes if the source's identity already has been made public, the state Supreme Court has ruled.
The 5-2 decision, issued Friday, concerns $80,000 in contempt fines issued to two Philadelphia reporters who refused to testify about their interviews with a murder defendant. The appeals court said sanctions were justified, but sent the case back to the trial judge to reconsider the fines.
Reporters Mark Bowden, then with The Philadelphia Inquirer, and Linn Washington Jr., of The Philadelphia Tribune, both interviewed Brian Tyson before his trial in December 2000 for a fatal shooting. Tyson claimed the shooting was in self-defense as part of a battle to rid his North Philadelphia neighborhood of drugs and criminals.
Didn't conceal identity
The Supreme Court said the shield law protects the identity of confidential sources, but does not apply in Tyson's case because he wanted the newspapers to tell his story.
"Tyson made no effort to conceal his identity and freely communicated with Bowden and Washington about the shootings and his relationship with the local drug dealers," says the majority opinion written by Justice Russell M. Nigro.
The shield law states journalists can't be required to "disclose the source" of information they receive in any legal proceeding, trial or governmental investigation.
A document such as interview notes can count as a "source," the majority ruled, only "where [its] production, even with all names redacted, could breach the confidentiality of a human source."
After Bowden and Washington exhausted their attempts to fight a subpoena issued by prosecutors in Tyson's criminal trial, they still refused to turn over the notes or testify about their content. Philadelphia Common Pleas Judge Jane Cutler Greenspan fined them $100 per minute until the commonwealth rested its case on rebuttal, fines that amounted to $40,000 apiece.
Bowden, author of the books "Black Hawk Down" and "Killing Pablo," wrote a three-part series in 1998 about the Tyson case. Washington, a Temple University journalism professor, wrote several pieces on the shooting.
Reactions to ruling
Robert C. Heim, Bowden's newspaper-paid attorney, said the Supreme Court ignored the language of the shield law and overturned previous interpretations that had protected unpublished notes.
Washington's attorney, Simone White, did not return a telephone call seeking comment.
The Philadelphia District Attorney's Office said that because Tyson aggressively pursued publicity, he should not benefit from protections designed for confidential sources.
But Teri L. Henning, a Pennsylvania Newspaper Association lawyer, predicted the decision may have a "chilling effect" on news gathering.
"In our view, prior case law made it clear that the shield law protected unpublished materials, without distinguishing between confidential and nonconfidential sources," said Henning, who filed a friend-of-the-court brief in the case.
Prosecutors argued the September 1997 shooting death of 23-year-old Damon Millner had not been provoked, and a jury found Tyson guilty of third-degree murder. He was sentenced to 10 to 30 years.