Amendment chills press coverage of government activities

The Senate Judiciary Committee meets today to potentially tack the so-called “Kyl Amendment” onto Section 798 of the Espionage Act, which has been deemed a potential Offical Secrets Act by First Amendment and open government advocates.

Senator Jon Kyl (R-AZ) has floated the amendment onto S. 236 - an unrelated bill, narrowly drawn to prohibit disclosures of information relating to communications intelligence - that would prohibit the disclosure and publication of information “concerning efforts by the United States to identify, investigate or prevent terrorist activity.”