Illinois’ Cook County State’s Attorney Office is subpoenaing the grades and notes of former Northwestern University students involved in a program investigating the conviction of a man accused of killing a security guard in 1978.

In 2003-06, the murder case was reinvestigated by undergraduate students in a journalism class at Northwestern University after the brother of Anthony McKinney wrote to the Medill Innocence Project, the Northwestern chapter of the program, said Rebekah Wanger, program assistant to the Medill Innocence Project.

The grades and notes of the students were subpoenaed by Cook County State’s attorney Anita Alvarez.

According to Wanger, the students were never accused of any wrongdoing or fabricating information. Rather, the information was subpoenaed to safeguard against future fabrication by the former students.

Because the students are not accused of a crime, the question as to whether the subpoena is relevant to the case is now raised as a question, Wanger said.

In order for the subpoena to be able to receive the students’ grades, it must ascertain why the grades are relevant to the case.

“Everything we think is relevant has been presented to the case. I believe it’s overreaching. They’re fishing. There isn’t a reason why the grades would be relevant. We can’t turn students’ grades over to their parents, let alone to government officials who have not accused them of any crime,” Wanger said.

The Illinois Reporter’s Privilege Act reserves the right of journalists in Illinois, including students, to keep information confidential. The Family Education Rights and Privacy Act also preserves the confidentiality of students’ grades. Wanger says both of these statutes will be used to try to overturn the subpoena.

The ruling on the subpoena will be issued Dec. 10 by Judge Diane Cannon. Until that time, the decision to reopen the case of McKinney, who has been in prison for 31 years, will be suspended.

According to University of Wisconsin journalism professor Robert Drechsel, if the subpoena was successful and the notes and grades were turned over to the state, it could make any journalism student or class engaging in an investigate process vulnerable.

“It’s a serious matter when journalists are forced to turn over their material,” said Drechsel, who is widely known for his work in media law.

According to Drechsel, privacy privileges for journalists vary from state to state. There are court decisions in Wisconsin to protect journalists, but currently there are no statutes in place that give journalists the privilege to withhold information as there are in Illinois.

“There is currently a bill that would give journalists a strong privilege to protect their ‘whistle-blowing’ sources. It’s important for journalists to protect their information,” Drechsel said.

A bill that is currently before the Wisconsin Senate would, if passed, prohibit subpoenas like those that had been brought against the Northwestern students from being used against Wisconsin journalists, including student journalists. The bill will be heard in the Senate Thursday.

A chapter of the Innocence Project has been operating out of the UW Law School for 10 years. With the help of professors, UW law students have freed 12 people wrongfully convicted by the state.