Gov't asks court not to block records (Fitzgerald and The NY Times)

[Kadie]

Gov't asks court not to block records
By PETE YOST, Associated Press Writer
22 minutes ago


WASHINGTON - The Justice Department on Saturday asked the Supreme Court to refrain from stepping into another First Amendment battle featuring federal prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald and The New York Times.

The case involves a leak probe by Fitzgerald to track down the confidential sources of Times reporters Judith Miller and Philip Shenon for stories in 2001. Miller, who spent 85 days in jail in 2005 in connection with Fitzgerald's separate CIA leak probe in the Valerie Plame case, retired from the newspaper a year ago.

In the current case, the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has said prosecutors can see the journalists' phone records. Earlier, a federal judge had ruled in the newspaper's favor, saying the First Amendment supplied a qualified privilege to reporters to protect confidential sources.

On Friday, the newspaper asked Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg to temporarily block the government from going through the records and said it was prepared to file a petition by Dec. 24 asking the court to take up the case.

snip...
Temporarily blocking the government from reviewing the phone records would cause "irreparable harm to a significant criminal investigation," the Justice Department told the Supreme Court in a 40-page filing.

more...
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061125/ap_on_go_su_co/scotus_nytimes_4

[stepnw1f]

1. So, What Will Ruth Bader Ginsburg Do? (nt)