House Bill 0071c2
CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.
Florida House of Representatives - 1998 CS/CS/HB 71
By the Committees on Civil Justice & Claims, Civil Justice
& Claims and Representatives Rojas and Diaz de la Portilla
1 A bill to be entitled
2 An act relating to disclosure of information;
3 creating s. 90.5015, F.S.; providing
4 definitions; providing to a professional
5 journalist the qualified privilege not to be a
6 witness concerning, and not to disclose,
7 certain information, including a source's
8 identity, obtained while the journalist was
9 actively gathering news; restricting
10 applicability of the privilege to information
11 or eye witness observations obtained within the
12 normal scope of employment; providing that the
13 privilege is not applicable to physical
14 evidence of crime; providing for a hearing,
15 specified showing, and a court order for
16 disclosure of certain nonconfidential
17 information; prescribing guidelines with
18 respect to nonwaiver and construction of the
19 privilege; providing for severability; amending
20 s. 945.10, F.S.; deleting a provision that
21 presentence or postsentence investigative
22 records are confidential and exempt from public
23 records law requirements for disclosure;
24 providing an effective date.
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26 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
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28 Section 1. Section 90.5015, Florida Statutes, is
29 created to read:
30 90.5015 Journalist's privilege.--
31 (1) For purposes of this section:
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Florida House of Representatives - 1998 CS/CS/HB 71
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1 (a) "Professional journalist" means a person regularly
2 engaged in collecting, photographing, recording, writing,
3 editing, reporting, or publishing news, for gain or
4 livelihood, who obtained the information sought while working
5 as a salaried employee of, or independent contractor for, a
6 newspaper, news journal, news agency, press association, wire
7 service, radio or television station, network, or news
8 magazine. Book authors and others who are not journalists, in
9 the traditional sense of the term, shall not be considered
10 professional journalists for purposes of this section.
11 (b) "News" means information of public concern
12 relating to local, statewide, national, or worldwide issues or
13 events.
14 (2) A professional journalist has a qualified
15 privilege not to be a witness concerning, and not to disclose,
16 the information, including the identity of any source, that
17 the professional journalist has obtained while actively
18 gathering news. This privilege shall only apply to
19 information or eye witness observations obtained within the
20 normal scope of employment, and shall not apply to physical
21 evidence of crime. A party seeking to overcome this privilege
22 must make a clear and specific showing that:
23 (a) The information is relevant and material to
24 unresolved issues that have been raised in the proceeding for
25 which the information is sought;
26 (b) The information cannot be obtained from
27 alternative sources; and
28 (c) A compelling interest exists for requiring
29 disclosure of the information.
30 (3) A court shall order disclosure pursuant to
31 subsection (2) only of that portion, or portions, of the
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Florida House of Representatives - 1998 CS/CS/HB 71
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1 information for which the showing under subsection (2) has
2 been made and shall support such order with clear and specific
3 findings made after a hearing.
4 (4) A professional journalist does not waive the
5 privilege provided by subsection (2) by disclosing all or any
6 part of the information protected by the privilege to any
7 other person, notwithstanding s. 90.507.
8 (5) No provision of this section shall be construed to
9 limit any privilege or right provided to a professional
10 journalist under law.
11 (6) If any provision of this section or its
12 application to any particular person or circumstance is held
13 invalid, that provision or its application shall be deemed
14 severable and shall not affect the validity of other
15 provisions or applications of this section.
16 Section 2. Paragraph (b) of subsection (1) of section
17 945.10, Florida Statutes, is amended to read:
18 945.10 Confidential information.--
19 (1) Except as otherwise provided by law or in this
20 section, the following records and information of the
21 Department of Corrections are confidential and exempt from the
22 provisions of s. 119.07(1) and s. 24(a), Art. I of the State
23 Constitution:
24 (b) Preplea or, pretrial intervention, presentence or
25 postsentence investigative records.
26 Section 3. This act shall take effect upon becoming a
27 law.
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