UPDATE: Hawaii Solons' Revised Shield Law Turn Back on New Media

 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Hawaii, the last state to join the Union 54 years ago, has taken a step backward, both technologically and as regards press freedom.

The Media Council of Hawaii ("MCH") has written to state legislators, urging them to reject H.B. 622, the revised, but weakened, proposed shield law that would supplant Hawaii Rev. Stat. sec. 621 that expires in June. With Sen. Cynthia Thielen the lone dissenting vote, lawmakers on the Senate Judiciary & Labor Committee last Friday approved a compromise bill that would make the shield law permanent, but would no longer protect "nontraditional journalists," according to an Associated Press article.

The present law protecting against compelled disclosure of confidential information and sources to authorities shields both traditional print journalists and new media, including bloggers. H.B. 622, backed by Judiciary & Labor Committee Chair Clayton Hee and Hawaii Atty. Gen. David Louie, however, would not cover digital media or free newspapers and magazines.

Critics of the shield law enacted in 2008 say the statute was too vaguely worded and impeded law enforcement, despite its inapplicability in felony and defamation cases (see "TUOL" post 4/4/13). H.B. 622, in contrast, would further be subject to exceptions in civil cases and potential felonies and serious crimes in which someone sustains unlawful injury, according to the AP article. Sen. Thielen, MCH and other media groups wanted to make the current shield law permanent, but otherwise leave its protections unaltered.

HB 622 awaits a vote by the full House & Senate.

UPDATE: Will Aloha State Solons Modify Shield Law?

The Hawaii state seal. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Hawaii's Senate Judiciary Committee today is expected to decide whether to modify the state's shield law [Hawaii Rev. Stat. sec. 621] that is scheduled to expire in June, the Associated Press reports.

Enacted in 2008, the statute, with exceptions, protects traditional and non-traditional reporters (e.g., bloggers) from having to disclose confidential sources and information to authorities (see "TUOL" posts 2/2/11, 5/10/09). Attorney General David Louie is leading the charge to refine the statute, according to the AP story, so as not to cover bloggers, and to grant law enforcement officers access to reporters' unpublished information.

On the other end of the spectrum, a coalition of 16 media groups cleverly calling itself The Hawaii Shield Law Coalition wants to make the statute permanent, but otherwise argues its provisions should be untouched. Already, the Hawaii House has proposed subjecting journalists to subpoenas in civil cases and cases in which people or animals are unlawfully harmed. Presently, cases involving felonies or defamation are an exception to the statute under which journalists may be compelled to divulge notes or identities of unnamed sources.

Forty states and the District of Columbia have some form of shield law in place, though "TUOL"'s home base, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is not among them, so don't tell us your secrets.