U.S. Govt subpoenas telephone records

Press, Volume CXIV, Issue 33463, 19 February 1974, Page 15

U.S. Govt subpoenas telephone records

(N.Z. Press Assn.—copyright) WASHINGTON.

A group of Washington news reporters has announced that it will take action against the American Telephone and Telegraph Company in a bid to halt its admitted practice of secretly turning over news media telephone records to lawenforcement agencies.

The journalists’ announcement came after disclosures that the Federal Government had subpoenaed telephone records for periods of up to seven months from the Washington offices of at least four news organisations. The telephone company supplied the records, but did not inform the news organisations: the “St Louis Post-Dispatch,” the Jack Anderson Column, the “New York Times,” and Knight Newspapers. The reporters’ group said: “The lawsuit will allege that, in order to protect the (constitutional) First Amendment right of the press, the Telephone and Telegraph Company should be required to notify journalists and news organisations of any

subpoenas for telephone records, to give them an opportunity to contest the validity of the subpoenas before the records are given to law-en-forcement officials.”

The reporters added that they would also seek to discover, as part of the litigation, whether the Telephone and Telegraph Company had been secretly supplying news media telephone records to law-enforcement agencies under informal arrangements with the F. 8.1. and the local police. The company has agreed voluntarily to supply records of all telephone calls turned over to Government agencies pursuant to subpoenas concerning 40 reporters and editors from 112 news organisations.

The news organisations maintain that inspection of toll records enables the Government to identify confidential news sources.

There is pressure among reporters to sue for damages for invasion of privacy and violation of civil rights under the Civil Rights Act.