WASHINGTON –Press freedom advocates urged the Justice Department and Obama administration to drop the case of New York Times reporter James Risen, a Pulitzer Prize winner.
At the National Press Club Thursday, supporters of Risen, who faces imprisonment for refusing to name a confidential source, called for lawmakers to respect the right of journalists to protect the privacy of their sources.
The news conference comes in wake of the tension in Ferguson, Mo. , where two journalists were detained for unlawful assembly while reporting on the protests against the killing of Michael Brown.
“This is all unacceptable, and we urge the police and other authorities in Ferguson to let the journalists carry out their professional mission to report the news in an unfettered manner,” said Myron Belkind, president of the National Press Club. “To do otherwise is a violation of their freedom of press enshrined in the First Amendment of our Bill of Rights.”
Risen faces possible imprisonment for refusing to name a source of information about a botched CIA operation meant to provide Iran with flawed nuclear weapons designs. The information appeared in his 2006 book, “State of War.”
The Obama administration has subpoenaed Risen several times since he was first singled out in 2008.
The Obama administration has pursued eight prosecutions of leakers under the Espionage Act—more than all previous administrations combined, said Courtney Radsch, advocacy director at the Committee to Protect Journalists.
On Thursday, a petition with over 100,000 signatures urging President Barack Obama and Attorney General Holder to halt legal action against Risen was delivered to the Justice Department.
The petition backed by over 20 Pulitzer Prize winners and several press freedom groups, called the government leaders’ efforts “an assault on freedom of the press.”
“The fundamentals of this nation are eroding before our very eyes,” said television personality Phil Donahue, nine-time Emmy Award winner and Peabody Award recipient.
In June, the U.S. Supreme Court refused to review Risen’s case. The Times reporter has repeatedly resisted the high court’s subpoenas and has now run out of appeals to resist testifying about his sources.
Risen, who attended the event Thursday, said the Justice Department and Obama administration’s appeal to the U.S. Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals argues against the fundamental principle of the reporter’s privilege.
“They turned this case into a showdown over the First Amendment and over the freedom of the press of the United States,” Risen said. “I’m happy to carry on that fight, but it wasn’t me who really started it.”
Press freedom advocates hope the petition will be enough to convince the Justice Department to drop the case against Risen.
