University of Virginia Library

Court Backed Newsman

At the time of the first
session the Branzburg case was
still in litigation. The Caldwell
case, involving a Federal Grand
Jury subpoena for a New York
Times reporter's notes on the
Black Panther Party in San
Fransisco, had reached the
Ninth Circuit Court of
Appeals. The court offered the
press hope when it backed the
newsman, overturning lower
court decisions.

But in another case, In re
Pappas. the Massachusetts
Supreme Court ruled that a
reporter for WTEV, an ABC
affiliate in New Bedford, had
to divulge all information
gathered when he spent an
evening in a Black Panther
building. All three cases were
eventually heard together by
the high court.

The first subcommittee
hearings closed in early 1972
with a note of guarded
optimism. The subpoena cases
had not yet been heard and the
press had won a victory over
the Pentagon Papers. Many felt
confident that the First
Amendment would survive the
upcoming court challenges.