New York Times Co. v. Superior Court

Opinion

EAGLESON, J.

We are asked to decide in this case whether the California newspersons’ shield law (Cal. Const., art. I, § 2, subd. (b); Evid. Code, § 1070) provides a newspaper publisher with immunity from contempt for its refusal to comply with a civil subpoena for unpublished photographs of an automobile accident on a public highway. The threshold question is whether the term “unpublished information” in the shield law includes *456information not obtained by a newsperson in confidence.1 When we granted review in this case, the Courts of Appeal were in sharp conflict on the question. We…