New Mexico lawmaker wants to strengthen press shield law
Rep. Sarah Silva (D-Las Cruces) outside her office in the New Mexico Legislature on Friday, Jan. 31, 2025. (Photo by Austin Fisher / Source NM)
A freshman state lawmaker and leaders in both legislative chambers want to update and strengthen New Mexico's press shield law.
Rep. Sarah Silva (D-Las Cruces) is carrying House Bill 153, which would update the definition of a journalist to include bloggers and nonprofit news outlets (like Source NM).
It would also protect reporters' electronic communications, such as email, from state spying.
The bill is modeled after the federal PRESS Act, which Congress failed to enact last year after then President-elect Donald Trump ordered congressional Republicans to block it. That would have codified regulations adopted by the U.S. Department of Justice in 2021 under former President Joe Biden.
'We see examples at the federal level of government chipping away at journalists' ability to do their jobs by pursuing the identities of unnamed sources and deterring whistleblowing,' Silva said in a statement on Friday.
Trump tells U.S. Senate Republicans they 'must kill' journalism shield law
Silva's Protect Reporters From Exploitive Spying Act is being co-sponsored by House Speaker Javier Martínez (D-Albuquerque) and Senate Majority Leader Peter Wirth (D-Santa Fe), according to a news release from the Democratic majority in the House.
The House of Representatives assigned the bill for hearings in the House Government, Elections and Indian Affairs Committee, and then the House Judiciary Committee. Those committee chairs on Friday had not yet scheduled it for a hearing.
If enacted, the legislation would only apply to proceedings in the state government's legislative and executive branches because of a 1976 New Mexico Supreme Court ruling forbidding the Legislature and governor from enacting laws related to rules of evidence in court.
The high court's press shield rule provides 'reasonably strong' protection against compelling journalists from disclosing confidential sources and information, according to a compendium written by Albuquerque lawyer Charles K. Purcell, an expert on the state's shield law and rule and a New Mexico Foundation for Open Government board member.
However, Purcell wrote, that protection goes away whenever someone can convince a judge that the source or information is 'crucial' to their case and they have no other way of getting it.
According to the news release, Silva and Purcell will ask the Supreme Court's Rules of Evidence Committee to consider changing the shield rule.
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