Justice Department: Don't get involved, Supreme Court!

Yesterday, the Justice Department asked the Supreme Court to refrain from blocking the government's review of the phone records of two New York Times reporters, Judith Miller and Philip Shenon. The department wants to see Miller's and Shenon's records to track down the confidential sources they used for stories in 2001 about the government freezing the assets of two Islamic charities, The Holy Land Foundation and Global Relief Foundation, that was printed a day prior to the Justice Department's terrorist-funding investigation.

The Supreme Court was urged not to get involved, as it would harm a significant criminal investigation. Prosecutors had less than three weeks left to file charges on some of the possible crimes, because important statutes of limitations will expire on December 13th and 14th — five years after the two separate raids took place. The Justice Department also contended that the facts of the case were unusual and would not create a far-reaching precedent allowing the disclosure of a reporter’s confidential sources.

Some background on the case:

• According to the Justice Department, the reporters' contacting both charities and asking questions one day prior to the raids reduced the effectiveness of the searches and endangered the federal agents carrying out the raids.
• 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. He said there is no evidence in the case that suggests the reporters tipped off the charities about the raids or that the reporters knew of the government's plans to raid either charity.
• In August, U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit in Manhattan ruled 2 to 1 that the reporters were not entitled to shield their sources under the First Amendment or under precedents established in common law.
• On Friday, The Times asked Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg of the Supreme Court to delay federal prosecutor, Mr. Patrick Fitzgerald from reviewing the telephone records until the court has an opportunity to decide whether to hear the case. The court gave the government until Saturday to submit a formal response.