Bill Pryor stands up for press freedom

Will wonders never cease?


By BOB JOHNSON
Associated Press Writer

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — A federal appeals court judge Wednesday questioned why Alabama’s shield law should not protect Sports Illustrated, which is asking that its sources for a story about former Alabama football coach Mike Price remain confidential.

A district judge ruled that Alabama’s law, which allows sources to remain confidential, refers to newspapers but does not specifically mention magazines like Sports Illustrated. Lawyers for Price want the sources named in the coach’s defamation suit over an SI story about his night of drinking at a topless bar in Pensacola, Fla.
Former Alabama Attorney General Bill Pryor, one of three judges from the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of appeals hearing the shield law issue, said the lower court’s ruling did not define a newspaper. He also listed a broad range of publications that might be considered newspapers, including The New York Times Magazine, The Alabama Baptist and Black & White, a mostly entertainment publication in Birmingham.

“Have you ever seen The National Enquirer? I don’t see how Sports Illustrated doesn’t fit into the description of what’s a newspaper,” Pryor said.