Evid. Code, § 1070 · Chapter 5. Immunity of Newsman From Citation for Contempt
Evid. Code, § 1070
Text — As published in the Legislative Counsel's database, tables dated October 18, 2026 (pubinfo_2025.zip)
(a) A publisher, editor, reporter, or other person connected with or employed upon a newspaper, magazine, or other periodical publication, or by a press association or wire service, or any person who has been so connected or employed, cannot be adjudged in contempt by a judicial, legislative, administrative body, or any other body having the power to issue subpoenas, for refusing to disclose, in any proceeding as defined in Section 901, the source of any information procured while so connected or employed for publication in a newspaper, magazine or other periodical publication, or for refusing to disclose any unpublished information obtained or prepared in gathering, receiving or processing of information for communication to the public.
(b) Nor can a radio or television news reporter or other person connected with or employed by a radio or television station, or any person who has been so connected or employed, be so adjudged in contempt for refusing to disclose the source of any information procured while so connected or employed for news or news commentary purposes on radio or television, or for refusing to disclose any unpublished information obtained or prepared in gathering, receiving or processing of information for communication to the public.
(c) As used in this section, “unpublished information” includes information not disseminated to the public by the person from whom disclosure is sought, whether or not related information has been disseminated and includes, but is not limited to, all notes, outtakes, photographs, tapes or other data of whatever sort not itself disseminated to the public through a medium of communication, whether or not published information based upon or related to such material has been disseminated.
Notes and commentary — not statutory text
History
Amended by Stats. 1974, Ch. 1456, Sec. 2.
Source of truth
- Edition
- As published in the Legislative Counsel's database, tables dated October 18, 2026 (pubinfo_2025.zip)
- Official file
- https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?lawCode=EVID§ionNum=1070.
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- compose_ca.py 2026-10-22: the Legislative Counsel's CAML content files read by a tokenizer (caml_readers.reader_a); an independent xml.etree reading (caml_readers.reader_b) agrees on every section
This section cites
Provisions in this library that the text above cites, as it prints each citation. A range cited as “ss. 61.13-61.16” links its first and last provisions.
Evidence Code
Cited by 15 provisions
Provisions in this library whose text cites Evid. Code, § 1070. Each shows the citation as that text prints it.
Business and Professions Code
Code of Civil Procedure
Government Code
Labor Code
Penal Code
- Pen. Code, § 422.4Printed as Section 1070 of the Evidence Code
- Pen. Code, § 627.1Printed as Section 1070 of the Evidence Code
- Pen. Code, § 868.5Printed as Section 1070 of the Evidence Code
- Pen. Code, § 939.21Printed as Section 1070 of the Evidence Code
- Pen. Code, § 1524Printed as Section 1070 of the Evidence Code
- Pen. Code, § 11143Printed as Section 1070 of the Evidence Code
- Pen. Code, § 13304Printed as Section 1070 of the Evidence Code
Procedural information only. Not legal advice and not a substitute for the advice of an attorney. Confirm the current text with the official publisher before relying on it.