**************
Original Post: Sunday 7:51 pm
Judith Miller of the New York Times and Matthew Cooper of Time Magazine will learn their fate Monday when the Supreme Court is expected to decide whether it will accept their cases. Both have been ordered held in contempt for refusing to name their sources in the grand jury investigation into who leaked Valerie Plame's name to columnist Robert Novak.
If the court declines to review the case of the two journalists — held in contempt by a lower court for declining to identify their confidential sources — they could land in jail within days and be forced to stay there for as many as 18 months. The high court's acceptance of the case would mean a reprieve, at least until a final ruling, likely to come next year.
Both were represented by Floyd Abrams through the trial and appeals court process, but Matthew Cooper switched to former Solicitor General Ted Olson for his Supreme Court petition.
Update: My prediction: Like Kevin Drum, the court will decline. The only hesitancy I have is that Matthew Cooper is raising different issues and has a different factual history. I could almost see them granting cert for Cooper and denying it for Miller. That's a longshot though, the better odds are both will be declined.
My prediction if they both lose: Judith Miller will do the time standing on her head; Matthew Cooper is more likely to give up the info, because of his need to put the welfare of his wife and child first.
Update: Looks like my prediction might be correct. The New York Times reports:
Ms. Miller has said she will go to jail rather than testify. "Journalists simply cannot do their jobs without being able to commit to sources that they won't be identified," she said in a statement yesterday. "Such protection is critical to the free flow of information in a democracy."
Representatives for Mr. Cooper were less categorical, saying they would file a motion to reargue the case and make no final decision until Judge Hogan ruled on it.
