Senate Judiciary Punts Again On Shield Law

The Senate Judiciary Committee once again failed to bring a federal shield law bill to a vote, in its 16th attempt over the past seven months to do so. Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-VT) recessed the markup hearing Thursday after Republicans had numerous amendments lined up that would have to be introduced and debated and voted on, but he warned that unless a manageable list of amendments could be produced, the bill might be sent directly to the floor, bypassing the committee approval process. While the current version is a compromise, Republican Senator Jon Kyl (R-AZ), who opposes the bill as currently constituted, said it was only a compromise between parties that already supported the bill -- the Administration, committee Democrats, and journalists -- not with Republicans like him with continuing issues about the balance of protections for journalists vs. law enforcement. He said that the administration had not worked with him on his issues, and that he still had problems with the bill. Leahy urged Republicans to address those concerns and come to him with a limited number of amendments.