Johnson v. Warner

How later courts describe this case

• distinguishing Branzburg by stating “[n]o such criminal overtones color the facts of this civil case”
• case remanded to allow the plaintiff to show misrepresentations in his enlistment contract entitling him to discharge
• plaintiffs failed to exhaust available sources of information other than subpoena to discover identity of magazine article author’s confidential source
• “court will look to the facts on a case-by-case basis in the course of weighing the need for the testimony in question against the claims of the newsman that the public’s right to know is impaired.”
• “highly material and relevant, necessary or critical to the maintenance of the claim”
• “[cjompelled disclosure of confidential sources ... threatens a journalist’s ability to secure information”
• specific record made on whether reporter had confidentiality understanding with anonymous source