Reporter battles cancer and a lousy federal court
Carl Jones of Miami New Times recently wrote about the plight of St. Petersburg Times reporter William Levesque, who has cancer, takes eight medications a day and now has to fight a federal subpoena.
U.S. District Judge Jose E. Martinez in Miami recently denied Levesque's request to quash that subpoena, which requires Jones to testify in a criminal trial concerning a company accused of orchestrating a $12 million fraud scheme. Apparently, Levesque spoke with the company's president in 2004. The court seeks the reporter's impressions of that interview, not his notes -- which is a good thing because Levesque said he didn't keep any records of the conversation.
Yeesh. Grilling a guy who talks with hundreds of people every year about an interview he conducted in 2004. Never mind all he's had to contend with since then. And never mind just how much Levesque's fuzzy to non-existent recollection would contribute to this trial.
The St. Pete Times is helping Levesque put up a fight. According to Jones' story, one of the paper's lawyers called it "unusual" for a judge to compel a reporter to testify in a federal case.
I'm afraid this ridiculous spectacle is hardly unusual. This is just one more example of how a gaggle of overzealous federal prosecutors, empowered by a federal judge, is determined to compromise the integrity of American journalism.
We must not end our fight for a federal shield law.