HF 1668

as introduced - 80th Legislature (1997 - 1998) Posted on 12/15/2009 12:00am

  1.1                          A bill for an act 
  1.2             relating to evidence; fixing the conditions for the 
  1.3             disclosure of certain information subject to the 
  1.4             Minnesota Free Flow of Information Act; amending 
  1.5             Minnesota Statutes 1996, sections 595.023; and 
  1.6             595.024, subdivision 2. 
  1.7   BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
  1.8      Section 1.  Minnesota Statutes 1996, section 595.023, is 
  1.9   amended to read: 
  1.10     595.023 [DISCLOSURE PROHIBITED.] 
  1.11     No person who is or has been directly engaged in the 
  1.12  gathering, procuring, compiling, editing, or publishing of 
  1.13  information for the purpose of transmission, dissemination or 
  1.14  publication to the public shall be required by any court, grand 
  1.15  jury, agency, department or branch of the state, or any of its 
  1.16  political subdivisions or other public body, or by either house 
  1.17  of the legislature or any committee, officer, member, or 
  1.18  employee thereof, to disclose in any proceeding the person or 
  1.19  means from or through which information was obtained, or to 
  1.20  disclose any unpublished information procured by the person in 
  1.21  the course of work or any of the person's notes, memoranda, 
  1.22  recording tapes, film or other reportorial data which whether or 
  1.23  not it would tend to identify the person or means through which 
  1.24  the information was obtained.  
  1.25     Sec. 2.  Minnesota Statutes 1996, section 595.024, 
  1.26  subdivision 2, is amended to read: 
  2.1      Subd. 2.  [DISCLOSURE ALLOWED; CONDITIONS.] The application 
  2.2   shall be granted only if the court determines after hearing the 
  2.3   parties that the person making application, by clear and 
  2.4   convincing evidence, has met all three of the following 
  2.5   conditions: 
  2.6      (1) that there is probable cause to believe that the source 
  2.7   has specific information sought is clearly relevant to a 
  2.8   specific violation of the law other than a misdemeanor, 
  2.9      (2) that the information cannot be obtained by any 
  2.10  alternative means or remedy less destructive of first amendment 
  2.11  rights, and 
  2.12     (3) that there is a compelling and overriding interest 
  2.13  requiring the disclosure of the information where the disclosure 
  2.14  is necessary to prevent injustice.  
  2.15     Sec. 3.  [EFFECTIVE DATE.] 
  2.16     This act is effective the day following final enactment.