The Press: Protecting the Source

Like eleven other states,* California has a law that newsmen have the right to refuse to reveal the source of a story. But last week California's law proved to be little protection for the San Francisco Chronicle's Reporter Jack Howard, 31. For refusing to identify a source, Newsman Howard landed in jail.

California's first test case of its 20-year-old law came as the result of a story Newsman Howard wrote about an apple-pickers' strike. In it he quoted an A.F.L. Teamsters' union official as saying union members would refuse to handle apples picked by non-union members. The growers' attorney then subpoenaed Howard in an attempt to prove that an illegal secondary boycott existed.

In court Howard refused to say whether he had got the quote from the union official or from another informant. Sonoma County Superior Court Judge Charles McGoldrick ruled that Howard's bylined story and use of direct quotation led the court to assume that the union official made the statement to Howard; thus the newsman had already waived his protection by identifying his source in print. As a result, the judge found Howard guilty of contempt of court and ordered him jailed until he revealed his source. Newsman Howard got out on $100 bail and took his case to California's Court of Appeals.