Dear Everyone;
Josh Wolf will be released by a court order of the 9th Circuit pending a review of whether or not he was properly held in contempt of the lower court.
Ron Getty
SF Libertarian
http://www.examiner.com/a-257376~Appeals_Court_Frees_Jailed_Videographer.html
Appeals Court Frees Jailed Videographer
1 hr 6 ago Appeals Court Frees Jailed Videographer
Journalist Jailed Over Protest Footage
(AP Photo/Paul Sakuma, File)
In this file photo, freelance video journalist Joshua Wolf, 24, is seen outside the Federal Building in San Francisco, Thursday, July 20, 2006. Wolf, jailed for a month after he refused to turn over footage of a political protest to a grand jury, will be released while a federal appeals court considers his case.
By DAVID KRAVETS, The Associated Press
Sep 1, 2006 9:45 AM (1 hr 6 mins ago)
Current rank: # 153 of 5,438 articles
SAN FRANCISCO - A freelance video journalist jailed for a month after he refused to turn over footage of a political protest to a grand jury was released Friday while a federal appeals court considers his case.
Josh Wolf, 24, videotaped a July 2005 protest during the G-8 economic summit where anarchists were suspected of vandalizing a city police car. One San Francisco officer was struck during the rally and his skull was fractured.
Wolf refused to turn over tapes of the demonstration to a federal grand jury. A judge found him in contempt of court and ordered him jailed on Aug. 1. He sold some of the footage to television stations and posted it on his Web site but refused to turn over unpublished material.
Wolf appealed, and the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said Thursday he could be freed while a panel of circuit judges considers whether he was properly held in contempt of court.
He left a federal correctional facility in Dublin on Friday.
San Francisco federal prosecutors, who brought the case, declined to comment.
The American Civil Liberties Union said federal authorities are disregarding California's shield law, which generally allows journalists to decline to divulge unpublished material to state authorities. That shield, however, does not attach to federal investigations.