In the Matter of Roche

A single justice of the Supreme Judicial Court adjudicated Walter F. Roche, Jr., in civil contempt for refusing to comply with an order that Roche testify fully at a deposition. On appeal,1 Roche contends that his status as a reporter for a television station frees him from the discovery obligations applicable to other persons by entitling him to assert, in his discretion, a right to refuse to disclose the identities of his “confidential sources.” Alternatively, Roche claims that the single justice abused his discretion by declining to prevent what Roche terms “oppressive, unnecessary, and…