Senate Minority Whip John Cornyn (R – TX) today blasted the “Free Flow of Information Act,” a media “shield law” which is being pushed by Senate Democrats, saying it is fatally flawed and contrary to the First Amendment’s freedom of the press.

 

Sen. Chuck Schumer (D – NY), the main backer of the bill, claims that he already has a filibuster-proof majority that can pass the bill, and insists it will protect the rights of certain journalists to gather information.

In theory, the bill protects journalists from having to reveal confidential sources. Yet the bill only affords this protection to “covered journalists,” while being extremely vague over what that means and giving judges considerable latitude to decide who is or isn’t sufficiently a journalist to have protection under the law.