US to weigh more guards against news summonses

Attorney General Benjamin civiletti has ordered the Justice Department to consider granting the news media more protection aginst subpoenas, a department spokesman said Monday.The attorney general ordered a review of subpoena regulations after learning that his department had subpoenaed telephone records of the New York Times's Atlanta bureau and the home phone records of its bureau chief. The subpoenas were technically proper, but Mr. Civiletti said he felt they violated the spirit of existing rules designed to minimize freedom-of-the- press disputes and avoid "chilling" the news gathering process.