Sen. Herpin introduces bill that seeks protections for reporters

Journalists in Colorado may get legal help protecting their sources after a New York reporter was pressured to divulge sources of information in the 2012 theater shootings.

A bill introduced this week would elevate the legal standard on which a reporter can be compelled to reveal sources. It would also delete a current provision in Colorado law that says information being sought in the case can outweigh First Amendment interests.

Republican Sen. Bernie Herpin from Colorado Springs introduced the bill because of Jana Winter, a Fox News reporter. Lawyers for theater shooting suspect James Holmes wanted Winter to name sources who told her Holmes mailed a notebook depicting violence to a psychiatrist.

A New York court ruled Winter did not have to reveal her sources. Herpin’s bill is modeled after New York’s law.