Miller / Cooper

Judith Miller went to jail for contempt, Matthew Cooper went home.


"Journalists are not entitled to promise complete confidentiality - no one in America is," Mr. Fitzgerald told the judge on Tuesday.

"Mr. Fitzgerald also said in the court papers that the source for both Mr. Cooper and Ms. Miller had waived confidentiality, giving the reporters permission to reveal where they got their information. The prosecutor did not identify that person, nor say whether the source for each reporter was the same person."

Why choose jail if the source waived confidentiality?

Perhaps at this stage, Miller (who is backed by and under the influence of the New York Times) is something of a pawn in the Times' broader agenda of passage of a federal shield law for journalists.