Free Flow of Information Act of 2007

A bill to maintain the free flow of information to the public by providing conditions for the federally compelled disclosure of information by certain persons connected with the news media.

10/22/2007--Reported to Senate amended. Free Flow of Information Act of 2007 -
(Sec. 2) Prohibits a federal entity (an entity or employee of the judicial or executive branch or an administrative agency) from compelling a covered person to testify or produce any document relating to protected information unless a court makes specified determinations by a preponderance of the evidence, including that all reasonable alternative sources have been exhausted, that the testimony or document sought is essential, and that nondisclosure would be contrary to the public interest, taking into account both the public interest in compelling disclosure and the public interest in gathering news and maintaining the free flow of information. Defines "covered person" as a person engaged in journalism, including their supervisor, employer, parent, subsidiary, or affiliate. Excludes from the definition foreign powers and their agents and certain terrorist organizations and individuals. Defines "protected information" as information or records a covered person obtained as part of engaging in journalism on a promise of confidentiality. Requires the content of compelled testimony or documents to be limited and narrowly tailored.
(Sec. 3) Exempts any information or item obtained as the result of the eyewitness observations of alleged criminal conduct or commitment of alleged criminal or tortious conduct by the covered person.
(Sec. 4) Exempts protected information that is reasonably necessary to stop, prevent, or mitigate a specific case of death, kidnapping, or substantial bodily harm.
(Sec. 5) Exempts any protected information that a federal court has found by a preponderance of the evidence would assist in preventing an act of terrorism, or other significant and articulable harm to national security that would outweigh the public interest in news gathering and maintaining a free flow of information to citizens.
(Sec. 6) Applies this Act to communications service providers with regard to:
(1) a communication to which a covered person is a party;
(2) any document relating to such a communication; or
(3) the contents of such a communication. Sets forth notice requirements. Permits a court to delay notice to a covered person upon determining that such notice would pose a substantial threat to the integrity of a criminal investigation.
(Sec. 7) Declares that this Act does not supersede, dilute, or preclude any law or court decision compelling or not compelling disclosure by a covered person or communications service provider of information identifying a source who provided information without a confidentiality promise made as part of engaging in journalism or records, other information, or contents of a communication obtained without a confidentiality promise.


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Sponsor

• Sen. Arlen Specter [D, PA]
• and 20 Co-Sponsors
  • Sen. Max Baucus [D, MT]
  • Sen. Barbara Boxer [D, CA]
  • Sen. Hillary Clinton [D, NY]
  • Sen. Christopher Dodd [D, CT]
  • Elizabeth Dole
  • Sen. Richard Durbin [D, IL]
  • Sen. Lindsey Graham [R, SC]
  • Sen. Tim Johnson [D, SD]
  • Sen. Amy Klobuchar [D, MN]
  • Sen. Mary Landrieu [D, LA]
  • Sen. Frank Lautenberg [D, NJ]
  • Sen. Patrick Leahy [D, VT]
  • Sen. Joseph Lieberman [I, CT]
  • Sen. Richard Lugar [R, IN]
  • Sen. Patty Murray [D, WA]
  • Barack Obama
  • Sen. Ken Salazar [D, CO]
  • Sen. Charles Schumer [D, NY]
  • Sen. Jon Tester [D, MT]
  • Sen. Jim Webb [D, VA]
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Committees

• Senate Judiciary

Amendments

This bill has no amendments.

Amendments to S.2035

Number	Status	Purpose

Bill Status

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Introduced		Voted on by Senate		Voted on by House		Considered By President		Bill Becomes Law
September 10, 2007

Latest Vote

July 30, 2008Roll call number 191 in the Senate
Question: On the Cloture Motion (Motion to Invoke Cloture on the Motion to Proceed to Consider S. 2035 )
Required percentage of 'Aye' votes: 3/5 (60%)	Percentage of 'aye' votes: 51%	Result: Cloture Motion Rejected

Democrats Voting 'Aye'

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Sen. Daniel Akaka [D, HI]
Sen. Max Baucus [D, MT]
Sen. Evan Bayh [D, IN]
Sen. Joseph Biden [D, DE]
Sen. Jeff Bingaman [D, NM]
Sen. Barbara Boxer [D, CA]
Sen. Sherrod Brown [D, OH]
Sen. Robert Byrd [D, WV]
Sen. Maria Cantwell [D, WA]
Sen. Benjamin Cardin [D, MD]
Sen. Thomas Carper [D, DE]
Sen. Robert Casey [D, PA]
Sen. Hillary Clinton [D, NY]
Sen. Kent Conrad [D, ND]
Sen. Christopher Dodd [D, CT]
Sen. Byron Dorgan [D, ND]
Sen. Richard Durbin [D, IL]
Sen. Russell Feingold [D, WI]
Sen. Dianne Feinstein [D, CA]
Sen. Thomas Harkin [D, IA]
Sen. Daniel Inouye [D, HI]
Sen. Tim Johnson [D, SD]
Sen. John Kerry [D, MA]
Sen. Amy Klobuchar [D, MN]
Sen. Herbert Kohl [D, WI]
Sen. Mary Landrieu [D, LA]
Sen. Frank Lautenberg [D, NJ]
Sen. Patrick Leahy [D, VT]
Sen. Carl Levin [D, MI]
Sen. Blanche Lincoln [D, AR]
Sen. Robert Menéndez [D, NJ]
Sen. Barbara Mikulski [D, MD]
Sen. Patty Murray [D, WA]
Sen. Ben Nelson [D, NE]
Sen. Bill Nelson [D, FL]
Sen. Mark Pryor [D, AR]
Sen. John Reed [D, RI]
Sen. Ken Salazar [D, CO]
Sen. Charles Schumer [D, NY]
Sen. Arlen Specter [D, PA]
Sen. Debbie Ann Stabenow [D, MI]
Sen. Jon Tester [D, MT]
Sen. Jim Webb [D, VA]
Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse [D, RI]
Sen. Ron Wyden [D, OR]

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Republicans Voting 'Aye'

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Sen. Susan Collins [R, ME]
Charles Hagel
Sen. Richard Lugar [R, IN]
Gordon Smith

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Others Voting 'Aye'

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Sen. Joseph Lieberman [I, CT]
Sen. Bernard Sanders [I, VT]

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Democrats Voting 'Nay'

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Sen. Harry Reid [D, NV]

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Republicans Voting 'Nay'

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Sen. Lamar Alexander [R, TN]
Wayne Allard
Sen. John Barrasso [R, WY]
Sen. Robert Bennett [R, UT]
Sen. Christopher Bond [R, MO]
Sen. Samuel Brownback [R, KS]
Sen. Jim Bunning [R, KY]
Sen. Richard Burr [R, NC]
Sen. Saxby Chambliss [R, GA]
Sen. Thomas Coburn [R, OK]
Sen. Thad Cochran [R, MS]
Norm Coleman
Sen. Bob Corker [R, TN]
Sen. John Cornyn [R, TX]
Larry Craig
Sen. Michael Crapo [R, ID]
Sen. Jim DeMint [R, SC]
Elizabeth Dole
Pete Domenici
Sen. John Ensign [R, NV]
Sen. Michael Enzi [R, WY]
Sen. Lindsey Graham [R, SC]
Sen. Charles Grassley [R, IA]
Sen. Judd Gregg [R, NH]
Sen. Orrin Hatch [R, UT]
Sen. Kay Hutchison [R, TX]
Sen. James Inhofe [R, OK]
Sen. John Isakson [R, GA]
Sen. Jon Kyl [R, AZ]
Sen. Mel Martinez [R, FL]
Sen. Mitch McConnell [R, KY]
Sen. Lisa Murkowski [R, AK]
Sen. Pat Roberts [R, KS]
Sen. Jefferson Sessions [R, AL]
Sen. Richard Shelby [R, AL]
Sen. Olympia Snowe [R, ME]
Ted Stevens
John Sununu
Sen. John Thune [R, SD]
Sen. David Vitter [R, LA]
Sen. George Voinovich [R, OH]
John Warner

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Others Voting 'Nay'

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Democrats Voting 'Abstain'

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Sen. Edward Kennedy [D, MA]
Sen. Claire McCaskill [D, MO]
Barack Obama
Sen. John Rockefeller [D, WV]

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Republicans Voting 'Abstain'

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Sen. John McCain [R, AZ]
Sen. Roger Wicker [R, MS]

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Others Voting 'Abstain'

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See Full Voting History (1 votes)Hide Voting History     Show All Actions (19 actions)Hide Actions

Voting History

Date	Chamber	Question	Aye	Nay	Result
July 30, 2008	Senate	S.2035 Free Flow of Information Act of 2007 On the Cloture Motion (Motion to Invoke Cloture on the Motion to Proceed to Consider S. 2035 )	51	43	Cloture Motion Rejected	See Vote

All Bill Actions

• Jul 30, 2008: Motion to proceed to consideration of measure withdrawn in Senate.
• Jul 30, 2008: Motion to proceed to measure considered in Senate.
• Unknown action
• Jul 30, 2008: Motion by Senator Reid to reconsider the vote by which cloture was not invoked on the motion to proceed to the measure (Record Vote Number 191) entered in Senate.
• Jul 29, 2008: Motion to proceed to measure considered in Senate.
• Jul 28, 2008: Motion to proceed to consideration of measure made in Senate.
• Jul 28, 2008: Cloture motion on the motion to proceed to the measure presented in Senate. (cconsideration: CR S7554; text: CCR S7554)
• Jul 28, 2008: Motion to proceed to consideration of measure withdrawn in Senate.
• Oct 22, 2007: Committee on the Judiciary. Reported by Senator Leahy with amendments. Without written report.
• Added to calendar on Oct 22, 2007: Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders. Calendar No. 434..
• Oct 04, 2007: Committee on the Judiciary. Date of scheduled consideration. SD226. 10:00 a.m.
• Added to calendar on Oct 04, 2007: Committee on the Judiciary. Ordered to be reported with amendments favorably..
• Oct 04, 2007: Committee on the Judiciary. Ordered to be reported with amendments favorably.
• Oct 04, 2007: Committee on the Judiciary. Date of scheduled consideration. SD-226. 10:00 a.m.
• Sep 27, 2007: Committee on the Judiciary. Date of scheduled consideration. SD-226. 10:00 a.m.
• Sep 27, 2007: Committee on the Judiciary. Committee consideration and Mark Up Session held.
• Sep 10, 2007: Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.
• Sep 10, 2007: Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR S11329-11330)
• Introduced on Sep 10, 2007.

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Related Bills:

• H.R.2102

Related Issue Areas:

• Law
• Authors and authorship
• Business
• Business records
• 23 more
• Civil liberties
• Communications
• Confidential communications
• Counterterrorism
• Criminal investigation
• Criminal justice
• Criminal procedure
• Discovery (Law)
• Evidence (Law)
• Freedom of the press
• Humanities
• Informers
• Internet
• Journalism
• Journalistic ethics
• Press
• Prosecution
• Reporters and reporting
• Subpoena
• Technology
• Telecommunication
• Terrorism
• Witnesses

Data from the Congressional Research Service

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In the News

August 01, 2008 Senators, stand up for a free press

Also last October, the Senate Judiciary Committee passed S.2035 by a 15-4 vote. Both the presumptive presidential nominees, Republican Sen. ...

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August 01, 2008 DOJ settles Hatfill suit over anthrax investigation

The US Senate recently considered a proposed federal reporter shield law [S. 2035 text, PDF; bill materials] that news agencies said [JURIST report] would ...

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Source: JURIST

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August 01, 2008 Shield Law Stalls in Senate

... 8/1/2008 11:14:11 AM INDIANAPOLIS — The Society of Professional Journalists is disappointed in the Senate’s vote on July 30 that stalled S. 2035, ...

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Blog Coverage

November 26, 2008 S. 2035

S. 2035. Free Flow of Information Act of 2007. As ordered reported by the Senate Committee on the Judiciary on October 4, 2007. CBO estimates that implementing S. 2035 would have no significant effect on the federal. budget. ...

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November 24, 2008 The WOD Blog: News from SPJ National

He became a cosponsor of S. 2035, the bill’s number in the Senate, on April 14, 2008. Links to several news articles that highlight Obama’s support are included at the end of this release. “We call on the President-elect to make good on ...

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November 21, 2008 Society of Professional Journalists: SPJ News

He became a cosponsor of S. 2035, the bill’s number in the Senate, on April 14, 2008. Links to several news articles that highlight Obama’s support are included at the end of this release. “We call on the President-elect to make good on ...

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Source: SPJ News

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