The First Amendment does not protect reporters who receive unauthorized leaks from being forced to testify against the people suspected of leaking to them, the court ruled. The court issued the holding—which rejected the argument made by "friend of the court" briefs filed by more than 24 media organizations arguing in favor of a qualified reporter’s privilege—in the context of determining that a full-time New York Times reporter must testify in the criminal trial of a former Central Intelligence Agency official charged with providing classified information that the reporter used in his 2006 book, State of War.