Back in the Nixon 70s another Miller was subpoenaed to testify before a grand jury. Tom Miller, who then wrote for the "alternative press," refused and went to court. He feels his experience may have some relevance for bloggers who, like him, may be participants in the events they cover. He describes those times for the LA Times—

In the summer of 1971, I lived in Arizona and was writing about the antiwar movement and its cultural offspring. I also began covering regional struggles — farmworkers and copper miners, immigrants and environmentalists — and had my hands full writing for the underground press and some sea-level publications. Because my beliefs were similar to the people I was writing about, they trusted me.

The grand jury that subpoenaed me that summer was not just any grand jury. This was one set up by Richard Nixon's Justice Department expressly to look into "subversive" activity. Tucson had a virile antiwar movement and frequent demonstrations.
....

I was no conventional reporter like Earl Caldwell. I was freelance (strike one), writing for the underground press (strike two) and openly sympathetic to my subjects (foul ball). I wanted to show the court that I, too, was entitled to 1st Amendment protection, so I set out to show that not only was I a writer but that the creative — although amateurish — underground press was as valid as a professional daily. The Constitution does not ask for circulation figures or rule out sloppiness. (Bloggers take note.)

The judge quashed the Justice Department's subpoena, but the appellate decision upon which the judge based his ruling was later reversed by the Supreme Court. I believe Tom Miller would be in jail were he in similar circumstances today. But he tries to cheer the rest of us on—

... the Justice Department's arrogant belief that it had the power to decide who deserves to be called a journalist continues to echo. Frey [Miller's judge] would no doubt be apoplectic at the mere notion of the Constitution protecting the electronic descendants of Thomas Paine. For democracy to flourish, however, the 1st Amendment must be more flexible than the parchment upon which it was written. Odious though many bloggers may be, ... courts will need to accept them as journalists — for the same reasons the court recognized my privilege to protect my sources.

Odious? Did he say "odious"?