Documents Leaked to Web Prompt First-Amendment Debate

STEVE INSKEEP, host:

The rights of bloggers are before a federal court today. A judge in Brooklyn will consider whether bloggers are entitled to the same free speech protections given to reporters for newspapers and other media. This case involves leaked documents belonging to the pharmaceutical giant Eli Lilly. ...

Neil Richards, a professor of law at Washington University in St. Louis, says this case squarely poses the question of whether John Doe deserves the same protections as the established media.

Professor NEIL RICHARDS (Law, Washington University): A number of people have made claims to be the press. And the Supreme Court, in interpreting the First Amendment, has defined the press very broadly because it doesn't want to foreclose new types of people who are engaged in press-like activities from claiming First Amendment protection.

PRAKASH: Richards thinks the court will decide that John Doe is a full-fledged member of the press. But to release the documents on the Web, Richards says, Judge Weinstein will also have to decide that the public interest in knowing what's in the documents outweighs Lilly's interest in protecting its trade secrets.

For its part, Lilly says releasing the documents could harm patients and physicians because the documents tell only part of the story about Zyprexa. A ruling in the case could come as early as today.

•	Documents Leaked to Web Prompt First-Amendment Debate TRANSCRIPT NPR Morning Edition (transcript), Wednesday, Jan. 17, 2007 Byline: Steve Inskeep, host

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