Matter of Contempt of Wright

The Court today fashions from thin air a new evidentiary privilege which effectively allows an amorphous, undefined class of persons to refuse to testify in court. The majority does not limit the privilege or tell us its extent. The majority postulates no rationale for its decision, other than the vague assertion that it is founded in freedom of the press.

The majority finds no agreement within itself as to the basis of its holding. Huntley, J., with whom Bakes, J., concurs, surmises that the privilege grows out of the federal constitution. Donaldson, C.J., and Huntley, J. suggest that the…