Evan Benn,
shown in 2009, is a former student of Northwestern University. He says he's disappointed with Judge Diane Cannon's ruling, that the students were acting under the direction of defense attorneys.
Jeff Roberson/AP
A judge in Chicago is ordering Northwestern University to turn over to prosecutors more than 500 emails between a high-profile professor and his investigative journalism students.
The students were part of the school's Medill Innocence Project, which has helped exonerate and free a dozen men convicted of murders they did not commit.
In this particular case, though, the judge ruled that the students weren't acting as journalists, protected by the Illinois reporter's privilege law, but as investigators for the defense.
There are concerns that if the ruling stands, it could have a chilling effect on the work of journalism students across the country. READ REST of STORY and watch VIDEO here
M. Spencer Green/AP
David Protess, shown in 2009, is no longer with Northwestern University. But he led the Medill Innocence Project when students discovered evidence questioning the guilt of Anthony McKinney, jailed since 1978. The judge in the case has ruled that the students weren't acting as journalists, protected by the Illinois reporter's privilege law, but as investigators for the defense.
NPR.org 09/12/2011 at 5:30 PM ET
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