Silencing Cellular.

• Author: Rimensnyder, Sara
• Position: Brief Article

When are people going to learn not to make threats over cell phones? In Pennsylvania in 1993, a disgruntled teachers union negotiator, chatting to colleague Gloria Bartnicki on the old wireless, suggested they might need to "blow off the front porches" of school board members' homes in order to get a salary increase. Days later, disc jockey Frederick Vopper was airing the tape on two different radio stations.

Bartnicki sued Vopper, the stations, and the man who supplied Vopper with the tape (who says he received it from an anonymous source), citing federal and state laws that ban the disclosure of recorded cell phone conversations. Eight years later, the case has arrived at the U.S. Supreme Court.

The justices heard oral arguments in early December, and now need to hash out whether a free press can trump privacy rights. It's a hairy issue, but an important one, since reporters acting in the public interest often depend on legally verboten sources to get their story. Meanwhile, individuals want assurance that remarks made in...