Maui Time Weekly has invoked Hawaii's journalist shield law to oppose efforts by the Maui police and prosecutors to subpoena information about his newspaper's online commenters.
One assumes they are trying to track down the writer of this blog as well as others who commented about the attack on the Maui Time publisher by Maui Police Officer Johnson.
In a court filing last week, attorneys for Maui Time publisher Tommy Russo said the information being sought in the subpoena was protected by reporter privilege. The law, passed by the state Legislature in 2008, protects journalists from having to turn over their sources or other unpublished information gathered in the course of news gathering or reporting.
"In our view, it's an outrageous use of a grand jury subpoena, especially in light of the journalist's privilege," said attorney Sam MacRoberts.
According to the filing, a Maui police officer served Russo with the subpoena on May 16, ordering Maui Time to provide subscriber information, billing records, Internet protocol addresses and physical addresses for comments posted on the paper's website over a 24-hour period.
The subpoena also ordered the paper not to notify the commentators that their information was being sought, "since any notification to the account holder may jeopardize the felony investigation."
The comments related to a story on the newspaper's website, which included a video of Russo being struck in the face by a Maui police officer in April.
One online commenter wrote that the Maui Police Department was the reason he owned a "LARGE CALIBRE, high-powered rifle," and that the officer "needs a bullet when he walks out his door."
Attorneys for Russo argued that the comment "although in bad taste" did not constitute a crime.
"But that has not inhibited the government from using the grand jury proceedings to further intimidate and harass Mr. Russo, presumably to discourage the dialogue that has been generated by the assault story," they wrote. "This is precisely what the First Amendment seeks to prevent."
At a court hearing Wednesday, Maui prosecutors said they needed more time to respond to Russo's latest filing. The matter was continued until July.
A Maui police spokesman declined to comment, saying both the alleged assault and the online comments were still being investigated. Oh really? Has officer Johnson been suspended? Have assault charges been file against officer Johnson? Just what is the Maui Police Department investigating?
In a sworn declaration to the court, Russo said that, in addition to being the founder and president of Maui Time, he was employed by the paper as a reporter.
"As a journalist and newscaster, I am asserting my Hawaii statutory privilege, my Hawaii constitutional privilege, and my United States constitutional privilege to refuse to disclose or produce the materials sought in the grand jury subpoena," he wrote.
A statement on the website of the Association of Alternative Newsweeklies said Village Voice Media Holdings had pledged $1,000 to defray Maui Time's legal costs.
