shield law
nounDefinition of shield law
: a law that protects journalists from forced disclosure of confidential news sources
Examples of shield law in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
News media groups have criticized it as a violation of California’s shield law, which protects journalists from being forced to reveal confidential sources and from search warrants. — Washington Post, "San Francisco PD omitted that raid target was a journalist," 23 July 2019 In response to Chavez’ request for a video of the meeting, David Washburn, temporary advisor for The Sun at the time, declined, citing California’s shield law, which protects newspapers from being forced to disclose unpublished information. — San Diego Union-Tribune, "Southwestern College withdraws public records request it sent to student newspaper," 30 June 2019 Noem has offered a sunshine initiative that includes having state and local government board meetings livestreamed, creating a property tax toolkit that would allow taxpayers to see where their money goes and supporting a reporter shield law. — James Nord, The Seattle Times, "Democrat to debate with rare shot at governor’s race win," 22 Oct. 2018 Six months later, the Appellate Division overturned her decision, saying the shield law protected Ms. Robles. — New York Times, "Court Ruling Means Times Reporter Must Testify in ‘Baby Hope’ Trial," 27 June 2018 Hartford police officers will don body cameras by the end of the year, a push by city leaders to boost transparency, protect the public and shield law enforcement officials from false accusations. — Jenna Carlesso, Courant Community, "Hartford Council Greenlights Purchase Of Body-Worn Cameras For Police," 29 June 2018 In North Carolina, a 2016 settlement that included an NDA helped shield law-enforcement officials from scrutiny after a Harnett County prison inmate named Brandon Bethea died after being stunned repeatedly with a Taser by a detention officer. — Ruth W. Grant, WSJ, "What We Don’t Know Can Hurt Us," 29 June 2018 In February, lawyers for the gun companies argued in court that their clients can’t be sued for firearms used in crimes because they are protected under a 2005 federal shield law that provides gun businesses general immunity from civil lawsuits. — Michele Gorman, Newsweek, "Orlando Shooting Puts Spotlight on AR-15 Rifle," 13 June 2016 Way back in 2006, Ars reported on a California state appellate court decision that found in favor of Apple-leaking sites—the company could not force them to reveal their sources, citing California’s journalist shield law. — Cyrus Farivar, Ars Technica, "Apple memo warning employees about leaking gets leaked," 13 Apr. 2018These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'shield law.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
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