The Center for Individual Freedom has filed an amicus curiae brief with the Supreme Court in support of Vanessa Leggett’s petition asking the Court to hear her case.

Vanessa Leggett is the Houston, Texas, writer and teacher jailed for 168 days for refusing to reveal confidential sources and information regarding a notorious murder case to federal prosecutors. That refusal followed an attempt by the FBI to convert Leggett, who is writing a book on the case, into a paid undercover government informant.

The Center’s brief argues the public interest necessity for qualified testimonial privilege for journalists. It also stresses the acute need for Supreme Court review to establish clear guidance to lower federal courts, which are widely split on the issue as a result of the Supreme Court’s l972 plurality decision in Branzburg v. Hayes.

As written in the Center’s brief, "Our ability to govern ourselves is threatened every time a party, prosecutor, or grand jury merely fishing for information compels a news gatherer to reveal a confidential source or other unpublished information. A clearly articulated, universally applied, qualified news gatherer’s privilege is the strongest shield against this threat. The Court should take the opportunity presented by this case to definitively recognize such a privilege and thus ensure the public’s right to know."

To read the Center’s brief, click here. To read the Leggett petition, click here.

The Center has written extensively on the Leggett case (click here) and has contributed to her legal defense fund.