US issues ban on federal prosecutors seizing journalist records

Attorney General Merrick Garland’s move comes following an outcry over the Trump administration’s investigations of members of the news media.

US Attorney General Merrick Garland on Monday formally prohibited federal prosecutors from seizing the records of journalists in leak investigations, with limited exceptions, reversing years of department policy. The new policy largely codifies the commitment Garland made in June, when he said the Justice Department would abandon the practice of seizing reporters’ records in investigations of government leaks to the news media. It aims to resolve a politically thorny issue that has long vexed Justice Department prosecutors trying to weigh the media’s First Amendment rights against the government’s desire to protect classified information.