Editor’s subpoena in Washington, D.C., civil suit set aside

Editor Carl Prine was subpoenaed on Aug. 29, 2022, to testify in connection with a civil lawsuit filed by a Navy lieutenant in federal court in Washington, D.C.

A judge set aside the order in January 2023.

In the underlying lawsuit, Lieutenant Steven Shaw sued the U.S. Navy for allegedly violating the federal Privacy Act, and sued civilian attorney Timothy Parlatore for defamation. Parlatore had represented Navy clients.

Prine, while working as editor at Navy Times from May 2019 to February 2020, wrote, edited and contributed to articles that “mention individuals and events” involved in Shaw’s lawsuit, according to court filings. He left Navy Times in July 2020, and at the time of the subpoena was working as a senior editor for Coffee or Die Magazine and living in Indiana.

In August 2022, Shaw subpoenaed Prine for testimony in the case, seeking to question him about his reporting on the lawsuit, including his communications with sources.

On Sept. 21, 2022, Prine filed a motion to set aside the order in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana, arguing that complying would subject him to an undue burden as a journalist who was not a party to the suit, and would force him to disclose journalistic work that was protected by the District of Columbia reporter’s shield law.

As an alternative, Prine sought a protective order limiting the scope of his testimony to protect his newsgathering and work product.

In a Dec. 20 hearing in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia — where the matter had been transferred — Judge Randolph Moss partially granted Prine’s motion to quash after ruling the D.C. reporter’s shield law applied.

The judge also asked Prine’s lawyer to discuss with the journalist whether or not he had relevant information regarding a single, narrow question about his communications with Parlatore and Shaw, and if he did, whether he would be willing to provide that information in a written statement.

Prine agreed, on the condition that a response would not be deemed a waiver of privilege, and if his response was “no,” the subpoena would be quashed in full. He submitted that response to the court on Jan. 23, 2023.

Prine and the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, which represented him in the case, did not respond to emailed requests for comment.