{ "title": "Incidents in North America, stage: punish, national level", "canonical_url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents?continent=north-america&stage=punish&level=national", "filters": { "continent": "north-america", "stage": "punish", "level": "national" }, "sort": "date", "count": 16, "page": 1, "pages": 1, "per_page": 50, "counts_caveat": "The number of entries reflects the depth of this record, not the severity of a country's conduct.", "facets": { "country": [ { "value": "MX", "label": "Mexico", "rsf": null }, { "value": "NI", "label": "Nicaragua", "rsf": { "index": "RSF World Press Freedom Index", "year": 2026, "rank": 168, "of": 180, "label": "RSF 2026 rank: 168th of 180", "source_url": "https://rsf.org/en/index" } }, { "value": "US", "label": "United States", "rsf": { "index": "RSF World Press Freedom Index", "year": 2026, "rank": 64, "of": 180, "label": "RSF 2026 rank: 64th of 180", "source_url": "https://rsf.org/en/index" } } ], "continent": [ { "value": "north-america", "label": "North America" } ], "tactic": [ { "value": "surveillance_and_subpoenas", "label": "Surveillance and subpoenas", "count": 11 }, { "value": "secrets_and_espionage_laws", "label": "Secrets and espionage laws", "count": 7 }, { "value": "detention_and_violence", "label": "Detention and violence", "count": 3 }, { "value": "access_ban", "label": "Access bans", "count": 1 }, { "value": "expulsion_and_visa_denial", "label": "Expulsion and visa denial", "count": 1 } ], "stage": [ { "value": "punish", "label": "Punish", "count": 16 } ], "level": [ { "value": "national", "label": "National", "count": 16 } ], "outcome": [ { "value": "reversed", "label": "Reversed", "count": 6 }, { "value": "sustained", "label": "Sustained", "count": 4 }, { "value": "unknown", "label": "Unknown", "count": 3 }, { "value": "upheld", "label": "Upheld by a court", "count": 3 } ], "leader": [ { "value": "barack-obama", "label": "Barack Obama" }, { "value": "daniel-ortega", "label": "Daniel Ortega" }, { "value": "donald-trump", "label": "Donald Trump" }, { "value": "dwight-d-eisenhower", "label": "Dwight D. Eisenhower" }, { "value": "enrique-pena-nieto", "label": "Enrique Pena Nieto" }, { "value": "george-w-bush", "label": "George W. Bush" }, { "value": "joe-biden", "label": "Joe Biden" }, { "value": "richard-nixon", "label": "Richard Nixon" } ], "era": [ { "value": "2010s", "label": "2010s", "count": 9 }, { "value": "2020s", "label": "2020s", "count": 4 }, { "value": "2000s", "label": "2000s", "count": 1 }, { "value": "1960s", "label": "1960s", "count": 1 }, { "value": "1950s", "label": "1950s", "count": 1 } ], "year": [ { "value": "1955", "label": "1955", "count": 1 }, { "value": "1969", "label": "1969", "count": 1 }, { "value": "2005", "label": "2005", "count": 1 }, { "value": "2010", "label": "2010", "count": 1 }, { "value": "2013", "label": "2013", "count": 4 }, { "value": "2014", "label": "2014", "count": 1 }, { "value": "2017", "label": "2017", "count": 1 }, { "value": "2018", "label": "2018", "count": 1 }, { "value": "2019", "label": "2019", "count": 1 }, { "value": "2020", "label": "2020", "count": 1 }, { "value": "2021", "label": "2021", "count": 2 }, { "value": "2026", "label": "2026", "count": 1 } ], "has_case": [ { "value": "0", "label": "without a court case", "count": 16 } ] }, "results": [ { "slug": "2026-cbp-seizes-grayzone-editor-phones-airport", "title": "Customs officers seize Grayzone editor's phones at Virginia airport over Iran reporting", "occurred_on": "2026-07-10", "occurred_on_precision": "day", "country": "US", "country_name": "United States", "continent": "north-america", "jurisdiction": "US-VA", "level": "national", "tactic_primary": "surveillance_and_subpoenas", "tactics": [ "surveillance_and_subpoenas" ], "leader_slug": "donald-trump", "leader_name": "Donald Trump", "issue_of_the_day": "Blumenthal had traveled to and reported from Iran, a country CBP's own cited policy treats as grounds for additional scrutiny of travelers who have worked in or visited it.", "outcome": "reversed", "outcome_on": "2026-07-17", "outcome_note": "Customs returned Blumenthal's phones after he sued; litigation continued into discovery over possible data extraction.", "stage": "punish", "ladder_note": null, "rsf": { "index": "RSF World Press Freedom Index", "year": 2026, "rank": 64, "of": 180, "label": "RSF 2026 rank: 64th of 180", "source_url": "https://rsf.org/en/index" }, "era": "2020s", "granularity": "granular", "status": "reversed", "case_count": 0, "summary": "U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers stopped Grayzone editor Max Blumenthal at Washington Dulles Airport, questioned him about his reporting trips to Iran, and seized both of his phones without his consent; the phones were returned a week later after he sued.", "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2026-cbp-seizes-grayzone-editor-phones-airport" }, { "slug": "2021-fbi-raids-project-veritas-founder-okeefe", "title": "FBI raids Project Veritas founder's home over Ashley Biden diary investigation", "occurred_on": "2021-11-06", "occurred_on_precision": "day", "country": "US", "country_name": "United States", "continent": "north-america", "jurisdiction": "US-NY", "level": "national", "tactic_primary": "surveillance_and_subpoenas", "tactics": [ "detention_and_violence", "surveillance_and_subpoenas" ], "leader_slug": "joe-biden", "leader_name": "Joe Biden", "issue_of_the_day": "Project Veritas had obtained and reported on a diary purportedly belonging to Ashley Biden during the 2020 campaign; federal prosecutors were investigating how the diary had been obtained and transported across state lines.", "outcome": "unknown", "outcome_on": null, "outcome_note": "No charges were ever filed against O'Keefe; a court later allowed prosecutors to review the seized phones.", "stage": "punish", "ladder_note": null, "rsf": { "index": "RSF World Press Freedom Index", "year": 2026, "rank": 64, "of": 180, "label": "RSF 2026 rank: 64th of 180", "source_url": "https://rsf.org/en/index" }, "era": "2020s", "granularity": "granular", "status": "in_effect", "case_count": 0, "summary": "FBI agents raided Project Veritas founder James O'Keefe's New York home and seized his phones as part of an investigation into the alleged theft of a diary belonging to Ashley Biden, President Biden's daughter, which the group had reported on; O'Keefe was never charged.", "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2021-fbi-raids-project-veritas-founder-okeefe" }, { "slug": "2021-doj-bans-seizing-reporters-records-garland", "title": "Justice Department bars seizing reporters' phone and email records", "occurred_on": "2021-07-19", "occurred_on_precision": "day", "country": "US", "country_name": "United States", "continent": "north-america", "jurisdiction": "US", "level": "national", "tactic_primary": "surveillance_and_subpoenas", "tactics": [ "surveillance_and_subpoenas" ], "leader_slug": "joe-biden", "leader_name": "Joe Biden", "issue_of_the_day": "In mid-2021, The New York Times, The Washington Post and CNN separately disclosed that the Justice Department had secretly seized their reporters' phone and email records years earlier while investigating leaks, including of information about contacts between Trump campaign associates and Russia.", "outcome": "reversed", "outcome_on": "2025-04-25", "outcome_note": "Attorney General Bondi rescinded these protections in April 2025, restoring the department's earlier discretionary balancing test.", "stage": "punish", "ladder_note": null, "rsf": { "index": "RSF World Press Freedom Index", "year": 2026, "rank": 64, "of": 180, "label": "RSF 2026 rank: 64th of 180", "source_url": "https://rsf.org/en/index" }, "era": "2020s", "granularity": "granular", "status": "reversed", "case_count": 0, "summary": "After it came to light that the Trump-era Justice Department had secretly obtained the phone and email records of reporters at The New York Times, The Washington Post and CNN, Attorney General Merrick Garland issued a policy barring prosecutors from using subpoenas or other compulsory process against journalists in leak investigations.", "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2021-doj-bans-seizing-reporters-records-garland" }, { "slug": "2020-federal-officers-target-journalists-portland-injunction", "title": "Federal officers restrict press access to Portland protests; judge orders them to stop", "occurred_on": "2020-07-23", "occurred_on_precision": "day", "country": "US", "country_name": "United States", "continent": "north-america", "jurisdiction": "US-OR", "level": "national", "tactic_primary": "access_ban", "tactics": [ "access_ban", "detention_and_violence" ], "leader_slug": "donald-trump", "leader_name": "Donald Trump", "issue_of_the_day": "The federal government sent Department of Homeland Security officers to Portland in July 2020 to protect a federal courthouse during nightly protests that followed George Floyd's killing; officers' use of force against bystanders, including identified journalists, prompted the lawsuit.", "outcome": "reversed", "outcome_on": "2020-07-23", "outcome_note": "On July 23, 2020, the court ordered federal agents to stop dispersing, arresting or using force against identified journalists and legal observers; the order was later extended.", "stage": "punish", "ladder_note": null, "rsf": { "index": "RSF World Press Freedom Index", "year": 2026, "rank": 64, "of": 180, "label": "RSF 2026 rank: 64th of 180", "source_url": "https://rsf.org/en/index" }, "era": "2020s", "granularity": "granular", "status": "reversed", "case_count": 0, "summary": "After federal officers deployed to Portland used tear gas, pepper spray and rubber bullets on journalists and legal observers covering protests, the American Civil Liberties Union sued, and a federal judge issued a preliminary injunction barring officers from dispersing, arresting or using force against clearly identified press.", "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2020-federal-officers-target-journalists-portland-injunction" }, { "slug": "2019-us-assange-espionage-act-indictment", "title": "United States indicts WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange under the Espionage Act", "occurred_on": "2019-05-23", "occurred_on_precision": "day", "country": "US", "country_name": "United States", "continent": "north-america", "jurisdiction": "US", "level": "national", "tactic_primary": "secrets_and_espionage_laws", "tactics": [ "secrets_and_espionage_laws" ], "leader_slug": "donald-trump", "leader_name": "Donald Trump", "issue_of_the_day": "WikiLeaks' 2010 publication of leaked United States military reports and diplomatic cables supplied by Chelsea Manning.", "outcome": "reversed", "outcome_on": "2024-06-25", "outcome_note": "Assange spent five years in a British prison fighting extradition before a June 2024 plea deal: he pleaded guilty to one count, was sentenced to time served, and was released.", "stage": "punish", "ladder_note": null, "rsf": { "index": "RSF World Press Freedom Index", "year": 2026, "rank": 64, "of": 180, "label": "RSF 2026 rank: 64th of 180", "source_url": "https://rsf.org/en/index" }, "era": "2010s", "granularity": "anchor", "status": "historical", "case_count": 0, "summary": "The United States indicted WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange on 17 counts under the Espionage Act over the 2010 publication of leaked military and diplomatic files, charges press-freedom groups said could expose ordinary national-security journalism to prosecution.", "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2019-us-assange-espionage-act-indictment" }, { "slug": "2018-nicaragua-expels-goette-luciak", "title": "Nicaragua: freelance correspondent detained and deported after online campaign", "occurred_on": "2018-09-16", "occurred_on_precision": "month", "country": "NI", "country_name": "Nicaragua", "continent": "north-america", "jurisdiction": "NI", "level": "national", "tactic_primary": "expulsion_and_visa_denial", "tactics": [ "expulsion_and_visa_denial" ], "leader_slug": "daniel-ortega", "leader_name": "Daniel Ortega", "issue_of_the_day": "Not stated in the sources reviewed.", "outcome": "sustained", "outcome_on": "2018-09-30", "outcome_note": "The deportation was not reported as reversed; the sources reviewed record at least 50 Nicaraguan journalists in exile by mid-2019.", "stage": "punish", "ladder_note": "A freelance correspondent's home address was circulated online in a coordinated campaign, then he was detained and deported from Nicaragua; no comparable United States action in the record has removed a journalist from the country.", "rsf": { "index": "RSF World Press Freedom Index", "year": 2026, "rank": 168, "of": 180, "label": "RSF 2026 rank: 168th of 180", "source_url": "https://rsf.org/en/index" }, "era": "2010s", "granularity": "granular", "status": "historical", "case_count": 0, "summary": "A coordinated online campaign accused freelance correspondent Carl David Goette-Luciak of being a foreign agent and circulated his home address, after which he was detained and deported from Nicaragua in September 2018.", "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2018-nicaragua-expels-goette-luciak" }, { "slug": "2017-mexico-aristegui-pegasus-spyware", "title": "Mexico: journalist Carmen Aristegui receives Pegasus spyware through phishing texts", "occurred_on": "2017-06-19", "occurred_on_precision": "day", "country": "MX", "country_name": "Mexico", "continent": "north-america", "jurisdiction": "MX", "level": "national", "tactic_primary": "surveillance_and_subpoenas", "tactics": [ "surveillance_and_subpoenas" ], "leader_slug": "enrique-pena-nieto", "leader_name": "Enrique Pena Nieto", "issue_of_the_day": "Aristegui and Loret de Mola were among several Mexican investigative journalists, human rights defenders and anti-corruption figures sent the same spyware technique around the same period.", "outcome": "unknown", "outcome_on": "2017-06-20", "outcome_note": "The government denied responsibility and Citizen Lab's report found no conclusive evidence establishing who sent the spyware, according to the source reviewed.", "stage": "punish", "ladder_note": "Investigative journalists' phones were secretly infected with spyware through fabricated personal warnings, with government responsibility denied and never conclusively established.", "rsf": null, "era": "2010s", "granularity": "granular", "status": "in_effect", "case_count": 0, "summary": "Citizen Lab, R3D and Article 19 documented Pegasus spyware sent to Mexican investigative journalists Carmen Aristegui and Carlos Loret de Mola through phishing text messages, which the Mexican government denied having sent.", "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2017-mexico-aristegui-pegasus-spyware" }, { "slug": "2014-us-james-risen-subpoena-jeffrey-sterling", "title": "United States pursues New York Times reporter James Risen's testimony for years before dropping its demand for his source", "occurred_on": "2014-10-17", "occurred_on_precision": "day", "country": "US", "country_name": "United States", "continent": "north-america", "jurisdiction": "US", "level": "national", "tactic_primary": "surveillance_and_subpoenas", "tactics": [ "secrets_and_espionage_laws", "surveillance_and_subpoenas" ], "leader_slug": "barack-obama", "leader_name": "Barack Obama", "issue_of_the_day": "A 2006 book account of a botched CIA operation meant to disrupt Iran's nuclear weapons program.", "outcome": "reversed", "outcome_on": "2014-10-17", "outcome_note": "After the Supreme Court declined to hear Risen's appeal, the Justice Department chose not to compel his testimony or the identity of his source; Sterling was convicted without it.", "stage": "punish", "ladder_note": null, "rsf": { "index": "RSF World Press Freedom Index", "year": 2026, "rank": 64, "of": 180, "label": "RSF 2026 rank: 64th of 180", "source_url": "https://rsf.org/en/index" }, "era": "2010s", "granularity": "anchor", "status": "historical", "case_count": 0, "summary": "For years, federal prosecutors sought New York Times reporter James Risen's testimony identifying a confidential source in a CIA leak case; the Supreme Court declined to hear his appeal, but Attorney General Eric Holder ultimately chose not to force him to testify or name the source.", "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2014-us-james-risen-subpoena-jeffrey-sterling" }, { "slug": "2013-obama-doj-charges-eight-under-espionage-act", "title": "United States: Espionage Act prosecutions of sources for leaks to the press, 2009 to 2013", "occurred_on": "2013-10-10", "occurred_on_precision": "day", "country": "US", "country_name": "United States", "continent": "north-america", "jurisdiction": "US", "level": "national", "tactic_primary": "secrets_and_espionage_laws", "tactics": [ "secrets_and_espionage_laws", "surveillance_and_subpoenas" ], "leader_slug": "barack-obama", "leader_name": "Barack Obama", "issue_of_the_day": null, "outcome": "unknown", "outcome_on": null, "outcome_note": "The record documents the prosecutions as a group; the outcome of each case is not recorded here.", "stage": "punish", "ladder_note": null, "rsf": { "index": "RSF World Press Freedom Index", "year": 2026, "rank": 64, "of": 180, "label": "RSF 2026 rank: 64th of 180", "source_url": "https://rsf.org/en/index" }, "era": "2010s", "granularity": "anchor", "status": "in_effect", "case_count": 0, "summary": "A report by the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), a non-profit organization in New York that documents cases of journalists imprisoned or killed worldwide, published on October 10, 2013, found that since 2009 the United States Department of Justice had brought felony charges against six government employees and two contractors, including Edward Snowden, accused of leaking classified information to the press. The charges were brought under the Espionage Act, a 1917 United States law against disclosing defence information, during the presidency of Barack Obama. The Project On Government Oversight, a United States non-profit that investigates the federal government, said the department under Obama and Attorney General Eric Holder \"has used it more than all prior administrations combined.\"", "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2013-obama-doj-charges-eight-under-espionage-act" }, { "slug": "2013-us-doj-names-fox-reporter-co-conspirator", "title": "United States search warrant names Fox News reporter James Rosen a possible co-conspirator in a leak case", "occurred_on": "2013-05-20", "occurred_on_precision": "day", "country": "US", "country_name": "United States", "continent": "north-america", "jurisdiction": "US", "level": "national", "tactic_primary": "surveillance_and_subpoenas", "tactics": [ "secrets_and_espionage_laws", "surveillance_and_subpoenas" ], "leader_slug": "barack-obama", "leader_name": "Barack Obama", "issue_of_the_day": "A 2009 Fox News report, sourced to a State Department analyst, forecasting North Korea's response to new United Nations sanctions.", "outcome": "sustained", "outcome_on": "2013-07-12", "outcome_note": "The warrant was not withdrawn from the record; Kim pleaded guilty in 2014 and Rosen was never charged. Holder's July 2013 guidelines later restricted subpoenas naming reporters as suspects.", "stage": "punish", "ladder_note": null, "rsf": { "index": "RSF World Press Freedom Index", "year": 2026, "rank": 64, "of": 180, "label": "RSF 2026 rank: 64th of 180", "source_url": "https://rsf.org/en/index" }, "era": "2010s", "granularity": "anchor", "status": "historical", "case_count": 0, "summary": "A 2010 FBI search-warrant affidavit, unsealed in 2013, described Fox News reporter James Rosen as a possible co-conspirator in violating the Espionage Act because he sought classified information from a State Department analyst, and used that theory to obtain his private emails.", "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2013-us-doj-names-fox-reporter-co-conspirator" }, { "slug": "2013-us-doj-seizes-ap-phone-records", "title": "United States Justice Department secretly seizes two months of Associated Press phone records", "occurred_on": "2013-05-13", "occurred_on_precision": "day", "country": "US", "country_name": "United States", "continent": "north-america", "jurisdiction": "US", "level": "national", "tactic_primary": "surveillance_and_subpoenas", "tactics": [ "surveillance_and_subpoenas" ], "leader_slug": "barack-obama", "leader_name": "Barack Obama", "issue_of_the_day": "A May 2012 AP report on a foiled al-Qaeda bomb plot aimed at a U.S.-bound airplane, which the government said compromised an intelligence source.", "outcome": "sustained", "outcome_on": "2013-07-12", "outcome_note": "The records were not returned and no journalist or source was charged; the Justice Department issued revised media-subpoena guidelines on July 12, 2013, after the disclosure.", "stage": "punish", "ladder_note": null, "rsf": { "index": "RSF World Press Freedom Index", "year": 2026, "rank": 64, "of": 180, "label": "RSF 2026 rank: 64th of 180", "source_url": "https://rsf.org/en/index" }, "era": "2010s", "granularity": "anchor", "status": "historical", "case_count": 0, "summary": "The U.S. Justice Department secretly obtained two months of telephone records from more than 20 Associated Press phone lines during a leak investigation, notifying the news agency only after the fact; AP called the scope of the seizure unjustified.", "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2013-us-doj-seizes-ap-phone-records" }, { "slug": "2012-us-john-kiriakou-espionage-act-cia-torture-source", "title": "United States prosecutes former CIA officer John Kiriakou under the Espionage Act for identifying a covert colleague to a journalist", "occurred_on": "2013-01-25", "occurred_on_precision": "day", "country": "US", "country_name": "United States", "continent": "north-america", "jurisdiction": "US", "level": "national", "tactic_primary": "secrets_and_espionage_laws", "tactics": [ "secrets_and_espionage_laws" ], "leader_slug": "barack-obama", "leader_name": "Barack Obama", "issue_of_the_day": "Public disclosure of the CIA's post-September 11 interrogation program, including its use of waterboarding.", "outcome": "upheld", "outcome_on": "2015-02-03", "outcome_note": "Kiriakou served his full 30-month sentence under the plea agreement and was released in February 2015; no CIA interrogation-program official faced comparable charges.", "stage": "punish", "ladder_note": null, "rsf": { "index": "RSF World Press Freedom Index", "year": 2026, "rank": 64, "of": 180, "label": "RSF 2026 rank: 64th of 180", "source_url": "https://rsf.org/en/index" }, "era": "2010s", "granularity": "anchor", "status": "historical", "case_count": 0, "summary": "Former CIA officer John Kiriakou, who in 2007 was the first CIA officer to publicly describe the agency's waterboarding of a detainee, pleaded guilty to identifying a covert colleague to a journalist and was sentenced under the Espionage Act to 30 months in prison.", "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2012-us-john-kiriakou-espionage-act-cia-torture-source" }, { "slug": "2010-us-chelsea-manning-espionage-act-wikileaks", "title": "United States charges Army analyst Chelsea Manning under the Espionage Act for leaking to WikiLeaks", "occurred_on": "2010-07-05", "occurred_on_precision": "day", "country": "US", "country_name": "United States", "continent": "north-america", "jurisdiction": "US", "level": "national", "tactic_primary": "secrets_and_espionage_laws", "tactics": [ "detention_and_violence", "secrets_and_espionage_laws" ], "leader_slug": "barack-obama", "leader_name": "Barack Obama", "issue_of_the_day": "United States conduct of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and detainee treatment, including the CIA's interrogation program.", "outcome": "reversed", "outcome_on": "2017-01-17", "outcome_note": "Manning's convictions were not overturned, but President Obama commuted her 35-year sentence in January 2017 and she was released that May.", "stage": "punish", "ladder_note": null, "rsf": { "index": "RSF World Press Freedom Index", "year": 2026, "rank": 64, "of": 180, "label": "RSF 2026 rank: 64th of 180", "source_url": "https://rsf.org/en/index" }, "era": "2010s", "granularity": "anchor", "status": "historical", "case_count": 0, "summary": "The U.S. Army charged intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning under the Espionage Act, a 1917 law against disclosing defense information, after she gave WikiLeaks, a website that publishes leaked documents, a large archive of military and diplomatic files that news organizations later published.", "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2010-us-chelsea-manning-espionage-act-wikileaks" }, { "slug": "2005-us-judith-miller-jailed-plame-source", "title": "New York Times reporter Judith Miller jailed for refusing to name a confidential source in the Valerie Plame affair", "occurred_on": "2005-07-06", "occurred_on_precision": "day", "country": "US", "country_name": "United States", "continent": "north-america", "jurisdiction": "US", "level": "national", "tactic_primary": "surveillance_and_subpoenas", "tactics": [ "secrets_and_espionage_laws", "surveillance_and_subpoenas" ], "leader_slug": "george-w-bush", "leader_name": "George W. Bush", "issue_of_the_day": "The Bush administration's case for the 2003 Iraq War and the public dispute over former ambassador Joseph Wilson's contrary account of Iraqi uranium claims.", "outcome": "upheld", "outcome_on": "2005-09-29", "outcome_note": "Courts upheld the contempt order and subpoena; Miller served 85 days before her source freed her to testify, and prosecutors later convicted Libby of perjury.", "stage": "punish", "ladder_note": null, "rsf": { "index": "RSF World Press Freedom Index", "year": 2026, "rank": 64, "of": 180, "label": "RSF 2026 rank: 64th of 180", "source_url": "https://rsf.org/en/index" }, "era": "2000s", "granularity": "anchor", "status": "historical", "case_count": 0, "summary": "A federal judge jailed New York Times reporter Judith Miller for contempt after she refused to tell a grand jury who told her the identity of CIA officer Valerie Plame, part of a special counsel's investigation into the leak.", "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2005-us-judith-miller-jailed-plame-source" }, { "slug": "1972-us-branzburg-v-hayes-reporters-privilege", "title": "United States Supreme Court rules reporters have no privilege to refuse grand jury subpoenas", "occurred_on": "1969-01-01", "occurred_on_precision": "year", "country": "US", "country_name": "United States", "continent": "north-america", "jurisdiction": "US", "level": "national", "tactic_primary": "surveillance_and_subpoenas", "tactics": [ "surveillance_and_subpoenas" ], "leader_slug": "richard-nixon", "leader_name": "Richard Nixon", "issue_of_the_day": "Branzburg's articles on drug use and manufacturing drew the attention of Kentucky prosecutors, who wanted him to identify the people he had described witnessing commit the underlying offenses.", "outcome": "upheld", "outcome_on": "1972-06-29", "outcome_note": "The Supreme Court upheld the grand jury's power to compel Branzburg's testimony 5 to 4, finding no First Amendment reporter's privilege.", "stage": "punish", "ladder_note": null, "rsf": { "index": "RSF World Press Freedom Index", "year": 2026, "rank": 64, "of": 180, "label": "RSF 2026 rank: 64th of 180", "source_url": "https://rsf.org/en/index" }, "era": "1960s", "granularity": "anchor", "status": "historical", "case_count": 0, "summary": "Louisville Courier-Journal reporter Paul Branzburg was subpoenaed by a Kentucky grand jury, a body that investigates possible crimes, after he wrote about drug users he had observed. The Supreme Court ruled in 1972 that the First Amendment gives reporters no special right to withhold sources or information from a grand jury.", "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/1972-us-branzburg-v-hayes-reporters-privilege" }, { "slug": "1955-us-eastland-subcommittee-subpoenas-new-york-times", "title": "United States Senate panel subpoenas dozens of New York Times journalists over Communist ties", "occurred_on": "1955-11-01", "occurred_on_precision": "month", "country": "US", "country_name": "United States", "continent": "north-america", "jurisdiction": "US", "level": "national", "tactic_primary": "surveillance_and_subpoenas", "tactics": [ "surveillance_and_subpoenas" ], "leader_slug": "dwight-d-eisenhower", "leader_name": "Dwight D. Eisenhower", "issue_of_the_day": "Senator Eastland's subcommittee was investigating what it described as Communist Party influence in American newsrooms and broadcasting during the Cold War, and treated past party membership among journalists as grounds for scrutiny.", "outcome": "sustained", "outcome_on": "1956-12-01", "outcome_note": "The dismissals and resignations at The New York Times and other papers were not reversed; the paper said at year's end it had made no further dismissals beyond the initial cases.", "stage": "punish", "ladder_note": null, "rsf": { "index": "RSF World Press Freedom Index", "year": 2026, "rank": 64, "of": 180, "label": "RSF 2026 rank: 64th of 180", "source_url": "https://rsf.org/en/index" }, "era": "1950s", "granularity": "anchor", "status": "historical", "case_count": 0, "summary": "The Senate Internal Security Subcommittee, led by Senator James Eastland, issued 35 subpoenas over past or present Communist Party ties in the press, and 26 of them went to New York Times staff. The newspaper protested but several employees who would not answer were fired or forced to resign.", "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/1955-us-eastland-subcommittee-subpoenas-new-york-times" } ], "downloads": { "csv": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents?continent=north-america&stage=punish&level=national&format=csv", "json": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents.json?continent=north-america&stage=punish&level=national", "md": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents.md?continent=north-america&stage=punish&level=national" }, "license": { "name": "CC BY 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/" } }