NEWS 409 Lecture 29: What you should know about Shield Law Notes
26 Feb 2019
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What you should know about shield law notes. Any person who is asked or ordered to testify at a legal proceeding, or to produce documents relevant to one, is required to comply. If the person doesn"t, she"s subject to a contempt finding, which means a judge could put the person in jail, or fine her, or both. The penalty"s chief purpose is not to punish it"s to extract compliance. The most famous is the attorney-client privilege that exempts an attorney from testifying against a client about confidential communications. Many states recognize similar privileges for medical doctors, therapists, religious advisors, and spouses. They all stem from the belief that there"s a public interest that justifies the exclusion of testimony by certain people against others. Example: the attorney-client privilege recognizes that clients need good advice, and they can get it only if the client is honest with the attorney.
