Cameraman jailed for not yielding tape

[illiteratepresident]

http://www.sfgate.com/c/pictures/2006/08/02/ba_videos02_ph3.jpg
Josh Wolf was sent to federal prison Tuesday and could be held for nearly a year after refusing a grand jury's demand that he turn over unaired videotapes. National Lawyers Guild Photo



Cameraman jailed for not yielding tape
JOURNALISTS' RIGHTS? 'Every person ... has to give information to the grand jury if the grand jury wants it,' judge tells S.F. freelancer
- Bob Egelko, Chronicle Staff Writer
Wednesday, August 2, 2006
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2006/08/02/MNGNSK9MJ71.DTL

A freelance journalist and political activist was sent to federal prison Tuesday and could be held for nearly a year after refusing a grand jury's demand that he turn over unaired videotapes of a 2005 anarchist demonstration in which protesters clashed with San Francisco police.

U.S. District Judge William Alsup found Josh Wolf, 24, of San Francisco in contempt of court for failing to comply with a subpoena that the federal grand jury issued Feb. 1...

"Every person, from the president of the United States down to you and me, has to give information to the grand jury if the grand jury wants it,'' the judge said at the end of a 2 1/2-hour hearing in federal court in San Francisco.

Wolf and his lawyers contend that federal authorities are less interested in the alleged arson than they are in disrupting the legitimate political activities of anarchist groups. Forcing Wolf to turn over his videotapes is a way of keeping the media from reporting dissidents' point of view, they said.

Unless a journalist's right to withhold unpublished and unaired material is recognized, "we're not going to have Mr. Wolf or any reporters covering protests," attorney Jose Luis Fuentes told Alsup. "Confidential sources are not going to come forward. They (journalists) are going to be viewed as investigative arms of the government."

...

Wolf describes himself on his Web site as an activist and anarchist. The videos sought by the grand jury were of a demonstration that Wolf shot on July 8, 2005, in the Mission District, in which a few hundred people marched in protest against the Group of Eight economic summit that was taking place in Scotland.

...

Wolf posted some of the videos on his Web site and sold that footage to local television stations. None of the footage showed any crimes being committed. It was posted Tuesday evening at www.joshwolf.net/grandjury.

Federal prosecutors demanded the rest of the tapes, saying they might contain evidence of attempted arson of a police cruiser -- which Wolf says they do not. Trying to burn a police car would constitute a federal crime, federal authorities argued, because the Police Department receives money from Washington.

Citing the secrecy of grand jury proceedings, federal prosecutors have never explained their interest in the possible burning of a police car, which local authorities typically would investigate. No local charges have ever been filed in connection with that incident.

... Noting that the events Wolf photographed all took place in public, Alsup asked, "Where does Mr. Wolf get to decide what will or will not be made public, when he never made a promise to anyone?"

Alsup was a Supreme Court law clerk when the court ruled in 1972 that the First Amendment does not shield reporters from having to testify before a grand jury. On Tuesday, he acknowledged that some federal courts have since recognized certain legal protections for journalists. But he said none of those cases involved grand jury investigations, in which the courts have repeatedly upheld demands for testimony...

California, like most states, has a shield law...There is no federal shield law, however, and the state law does not apply in federal court.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2006/08/02/MNGNSK9MJ71.DTL

Freelancer doesn't want mainstream job
- Bob Egelko, Chronicle Staff Writer
Wednesday, August 2, 2006

Josh Wolf has one thing in common with Judith Miller, the last journalist jailed by a federal judge: Both of them refused to disclose confidential material sought by grand juries.

Apart from that, Wolf, the 24-year-old San Francisco freelance journalist who was held in contempt of court Tuesday, comes from a different world from Miller, the former New York Times national security reporter who spent 85 days in federal prison last year until she agreed to reveal who told her a Bush administration critic's wife was a CIA agent.

"I'm not (interested) in making it in the world of mainstream media so much as making it as an independent journalist,'' Wolf said in an interview last month. "I see myself continuing to report on the world around me. ... I have reservations in the way journalism is approached.''

While his Web site includes personal videos, Wolf said, "a good portion of my work focuses on political dissent. That's what I've established as a beat.''

Before his confrontation Tuesday with U.S. District Judge William Alsup, Wolf spent part of his time as a self-employed video journalist, displaying his footage on a Web site and distributing some of it to other online sites and documentary-makers. He said he started shortly after the United States invaded Iraq in 2003, first on local public-access cable and then as a blogger.
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2006/08/02/WOLFSIDE.TMP

[illiteratepresident]

http://www.sfgate.com/c/pictures/2006/08/02/ba_videos02_ph3.jpg
Josh Wolf was sent to federal prison Tuesday and could be held for nearly a year after refusing a grand jury's demand that he turn over unaired videotapes. National Lawyers Guild Photo



Cameraman jailed for not yielding tape
JOURNALISTS' RIGHTS? 'Every person ... has to give information to the grand jury if the grand jury wants it,' judge tells S.F. freelancer
- Bob Egelko, Chronicle Staff Writer
Wednesday, August 2, 2006
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2006/08/02/MNGNSK9MJ71.DTL

A freelance journalist and political activist was sent to federal prison Tuesday and could be held for nearly a year after refusing a grand jury's demand that he turn over unaired videotapes of a 2005 anarchist demonstration in which protesters clashed with San Francisco police.

U.S. District Judge William Alsup found Josh Wolf, 24, of San Francisco in contempt of court for failing to comply with a subpoena that the federal grand jury issued Feb. 1...

"Every person, from the president of the United States down to you and me, has to give information to the grand jury if the grand jury wants it,'' the judge said at the end of a 2 1/2-hour hearing in federal court in San Francisco.

Wolf and his lawyers contend that federal authorities are less interested in the alleged arson than they are in disrupting the legitimate political activities of anarchist groups. Forcing Wolf to turn over his videotapes is a way of keeping the media from reporting dissidents' point of view, they said.

Unless a journalist's right to withhold unpublished and unaired material is recognized, "we're not going to have Mr. Wolf or any reporters covering protests," attorney Jose Luis Fuentes told Alsup. "Confidential sources are not going to come forward. They (journalists) are going to be viewed as investigative arms of the government."

...

Wolf describes himself on his Web site as an activist and anarchist. The videos sought by the grand jury were of a demonstration that Wolf shot on July 8, 2005, in the Mission District, in which a few hundred people marched in protest against the Group of Eight economic summit that was taking place in Scotland.

...

Wolf posted some of the videos on his Web site and sold that footage to local television stations. None of the footage showed any crimes being committed. It was posted Tuesday evening at www.joshwolf.net/grandjury.

Federal prosecutors demanded the rest of the tapes, saying they might contain evidence of attempted arson of a police cruiser -- which Wolf says they do not. Trying to burn a police car would constitute a federal crime, federal authorities argued, because the Police Department receives money from Washington.

Citing the secrecy of grand jury proceedings, federal prosecutors have never explained their interest in the possible burning of a police car, which local authorities typically would investigate. No local charges have ever been filed in connection with that incident.

... Noting that the events Wolf photographed all took place in public, Alsup asked, "Where does Mr. Wolf get to decide what will or will not be made public, when he never made a promise to anyone?"

Alsup was a Supreme Court law clerk when the court ruled in 1972 that the First Amendment does not shield reporters from having to testify before a grand jury. On Tuesday, he acknowledged that some federal courts have since recognized certain legal protections for journalists. But he said none of those cases involved grand jury investigations, in which the courts have repeatedly upheld demands for testimony...

California, like most states, has a shield law...There is no federal shield law, however, and the state law does not apply in federal court.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2006/08/02/MNGNSK9MJ71.DTL

Freelancer doesn't want mainstream job
- Bob Egelko, Chronicle Staff Writer
Wednesday, August 2, 2006

Josh Wolf has one thing in common with Judith Miller, the last journalist jailed by a federal judge: Both of them refused to disclose confidential material sought by grand juries.

Apart from that, Wolf, the 24-year-old San Francisco freelance journalist who was held in contempt of court Tuesday, comes from a different world from Miller, the former New York Times national security reporter who spent 85 days in federal prison last year until she agreed to reveal who told her a Bush administration critic's wife was a CIA agent.

"I'm not (interested) in making it in the world of mainstream media so much as making it as an independent journalist,'' Wolf said in an interview last month. "I see myself continuing to report on the world around me. ... I have reservations in the way journalism is approached.''

While his Web site includes personal videos, Wolf said, "a good portion of my work focuses on political dissent. That's what I've established as a beat.''

Before his confrontation Tuesday with U.S. District Judge William Alsup, Wolf spent part of his time as a self-employed video journalist, displaying his footage on a Web site and distributing some of it to other online sites and documentary-makers. He said he started shortly after the United States invaded Iraq in 2003, first on local public-access cable and then as a blogger.
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2006/08/02/WOLFSIDE.TMP

[illiteratepresident]

http://www.sfgate.com/c/pictures/2006/08/02/ba_videos02_ph3.jpg
Josh Wolf was sent to federal prison Tuesday and could be held for nearly a year after refusing a grand jury's demand that he turn over unaired videotapes. National Lawyers Guild Photo



Cameraman jailed for not yielding tape
JOURNALISTS' RIGHTS? 'Every person ... has to give information to the grand jury if the grand jury wants it,' judge tells S.F. freelancer
- Bob Egelko, Chronicle Staff Writer
Wednesday, August 2, 2006
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2006/08/02/MNGNSK9MJ71.DTL

A freelance journalist and political activist was sent to federal prison Tuesday and could be held for nearly a year after refusing a grand jury's demand that he turn over unaired videotapes of a 2005 anarchist demonstration in which protesters clashed with San Francisco police.

U.S. District Judge William Alsup found Josh Wolf, 24, of San Francisco in contempt of court for failing to comply with a subpoena that the federal grand jury issued Feb. 1...

"Every person, from the president of the United States down to you and me, has to give information to the grand jury if the grand jury wants it,'' the judge said at the end of a 2 1/2-hour hearing in federal court in San Francisco.

Wolf and his lawyers contend that federal authorities are less interested in the alleged arson than they are in disrupting the legitimate political activities of anarchist groups. Forcing Wolf to turn over his videotapes is a way of keeping the media from reporting dissidents' point of view, they said.

Unless a journalist's right to withhold unpublished and unaired material is recognized, "we're not going to have Mr. Wolf or any reporters covering protests," attorney Jose Luis Fuentes told Alsup. "Confidential sources are not going to come forward. They (journalists) are going to be viewed as investigative arms of the government."

...

Wolf describes himself on his Web site as an activist and anarchist. The videos sought by the grand jury were of a demonstration that Wolf shot on July 8, 2005, in the Mission District, in which a few hundred people marched in protest against the Group of Eight economic summit that was taking place in Scotland.

...

Wolf posted some of the videos on his Web site and sold that footage to local television stations. None of the footage showed any crimes being committed. It was posted Tuesday evening at www.joshwolf.net/grandjury.

Federal prosecutors demanded the rest of the tapes, saying they might contain evidence of attempted arson of a police cruiser -- which Wolf says they do not. Trying to burn a police car would constitute a federal crime, federal authorities argued, because the Police Department receives money from Washington.

Citing the secrecy of grand jury proceedings, federal prosecutors have never explained their interest in the possible burning of a police car, which local authorities typically would investigate. No local charges have ever been filed in connection with that incident.

... Noting that the events Wolf photographed all took place in public, Alsup asked, "Where does Mr. Wolf get to decide what will or will not be made public, when he never made a promise to anyone?"

Alsup was a Supreme Court law clerk when the court ruled in 1972 that the First Amendment does not shield reporters from having to testify before a grand jury. On Tuesday, he acknowledged that some federal courts have since recognized certain legal protections for journalists. But he said none of those cases involved grand jury investigations, in which the courts have repeatedly upheld demands for testimony...

California, like most states, has a shield law...There is no federal shield law, however, and the state law does not apply in federal court.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2006/08/02/MNGNSK9MJ71.DTL

Freelancer doesn't want mainstream job
- Bob Egelko, Chronicle Staff Writer
Wednesday, August 2, 2006

Josh Wolf has one thing in common with Judith Miller, the last journalist jailed by a federal judge: Both of them refused to disclose confidential material sought by grand juries.

Apart from that, Wolf, the 24-year-old San Francisco freelance journalist who was held in contempt of court Tuesday, comes from a different world from Miller, the former New York Times national security reporter who spent 85 days in federal prison last year until she agreed to reveal who told her a Bush administration critic's wife was a CIA agent.

"I'm not (interested) in making it in the world of mainstream media so much as making it as an independent journalist,'' Wolf said in an interview last month. "I see myself continuing to report on the world around me. ... I have reservations in the way journalism is approached.''

While his Web site includes personal videos, Wolf said, "a good portion of my work focuses on political dissent. That's what I've established as a beat.''

Before his confrontation Tuesday with U.S. District Judge William Alsup, Wolf spent part of his time as a self-employed video journalist, displaying his footage on a Web site and distributing some of it to other online sites and documentary-makers. He said he started shortly after the United States invaded Iraq in 2003, first on local public-access cable and then as a blogger.
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2006/08/02/WOLFSIDE.TMP

[illiteratepresident]

http://www.sfgate.com/c/pictures/2006/08/02/ba_videos02_ph3.jpg
Josh Wolf was sent to federal prison Tuesday and could be held for nearly a year after refusing a grand jury's demand that he turn over unaired videotapes. National Lawyers Guild Photo



Cameraman jailed for not yielding tape
JOURNALISTS' RIGHTS? 'Every person ... has to give information to the grand jury if the grand jury wants it,' judge tells S.F. freelancer
- Bob Egelko, Chronicle Staff Writer
Wednesday, August 2, 2006
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2006/08/02/MNGNSK9MJ71.DTL

A freelance journalist and political activist was sent to federal prison Tuesday and could be held for nearly a year after refusing a grand jury's demand that he turn over unaired videotapes of a 2005 anarchist demonstration in which protesters clashed with San Francisco police.

U.S. District Judge William Alsup found Josh Wolf, 24, of San Francisco in contempt of court for failing to comply with a subpoena that the federal grand jury issued Feb. 1...

"Every person, from the president of the United States down to you and me, has to give information to the grand jury if the grand jury wants it,'' the judge said at the end of a 2 1/2-hour hearing in federal court in San Francisco.

Wolf and his lawyers contend that federal authorities are less interested in the alleged arson than they are in disrupting the legitimate political activities of anarchist groups. Forcing Wolf to turn over his videotapes is a way of keeping the media from reporting dissidents' point of view, they said.

Unless a journalist's right to withhold unpublished and unaired material is recognized, "we're not going to have Mr. Wolf or any reporters covering protests," attorney Jose Luis Fuentes told Alsup. "Confidential sources are not going to come forward. They (journalists) are going to be viewed as investigative arms of the government."

...

Wolf describes himself on his Web site as an activist and anarchist. The videos sought by the grand jury were of a demonstration that Wolf shot on July 8, 2005, in the Mission District, in which a few hundred people marched in protest against the Group of Eight economic summit that was taking place in Scotland.

...

Wolf posted some of the videos on his Web site and sold that footage to local television stations. None of the footage showed any crimes being committed. It was posted Tuesday evening at www.joshwolf.net/grandjury.

Federal prosecutors demanded the rest of the tapes, saying they might contain evidence of attempted arson of a police cruiser -- which Wolf says they do not. Trying to burn a police car would constitute a federal crime, federal authorities argued, because the Police Department receives money from Washington.

Citing the secrecy of grand jury proceedings, federal prosecutors have never explained their interest in the possible burning of a police car, which local authorities typically would investigate. No local charges have ever been filed in connection with that incident.

... Noting that the events Wolf photographed all took place in public, Alsup asked, "Where does Mr. Wolf get to decide what will or will not be made public, when he never made a promise to anyone?"

Alsup was a Supreme Court law clerk when the court ruled in 1972 that the First Amendment does not shield reporters from having to testify before a grand jury. On Tuesday, he acknowledged that some federal courts have since recognized certain legal protections for journalists. But he said none of those cases involved grand jury investigations, in which the courts have repeatedly upheld demands for testimony...

California, like most states, has a shield law...There is no federal shield law, however, and the state law does not apply in federal court.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2006/08/02/MNGNSK9MJ71.DTL

Freelancer doesn't want mainstream job
- Bob Egelko, Chronicle Staff Writer
Wednesday, August 2, 2006

Josh Wolf has one thing in common with Judith Miller, the last journalist jailed by a federal judge: Both of them refused to disclose confidential material sought by grand juries.

Apart from that, Wolf, the 24-year-old San Francisco freelance journalist who was held in contempt of court Tuesday, comes from a different world from Miller, the former New York Times national security reporter who spent 85 days in federal prison last year until she agreed to reveal who told her a Bush administration critic's wife was a CIA agent.

"I'm not (interested) in making it in the world of mainstream media so much as making it as an independent journalist,'' Wolf said in an interview last month. "I see myself continuing to report on the world around me. ... I have reservations in the way journalism is approached.''

While his Web site includes personal videos, Wolf said, "a good portion of my work focuses on political dissent. That's what I've established as a beat.''

Before his confrontation Tuesday with U.S. District Judge William Alsup, Wolf spent part of his time as a self-employed video journalist, displaying his footage on a Web site and distributing some of it to other online sites and documentary-makers. He said he started shortly after the United States invaded Iraq in 2003, first on local public-access cable and then as a blogger.
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2006/08/02/WOLFSIDE.TMP

[illiteratepresident]

http://www.sfgate.com/c/pictures/2006/08/02/ba_videos02_ph3.jpg
Josh Wolf was sent to federal prison Tuesday and could be held for nearly a year after refusing a grand jury's demand that he turn over unaired videotapes. National Lawyers Guild Photo



Cameraman jailed for not yielding tape
JOURNALISTS' RIGHTS? 'Every person ... has to give information to the grand jury if the grand jury wants it,' judge tells S.F. freelancer
- Bob Egelko, Chronicle Staff Writer
Wednesday, August 2, 2006
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2006/08/02/MNGNSK9MJ71.DTL

A freelance journalist and political activist was sent to federal prison Tuesday and could be held for nearly a year after refusing a grand jury's demand that he turn over unaired videotapes of a 2005 anarchist demonstration in which protesters clashed with San Francisco police.

U.S. District Judge William Alsup found Josh Wolf, 24, of San Francisco in contempt of court for failing to comply with a subpoena that the federal grand jury issued Feb. 1...

"Every person, from the president of the United States down to you and me, has to give information to the grand jury if the grand jury wants it,'' the judge said at the end of a 2 1/2-hour hearing in federal court in San Francisco.

Wolf and his lawyers contend that federal authorities are less interested in the alleged arson than they are in disrupting the legitimate political activities of anarchist groups. Forcing Wolf to turn over his videotapes is a way of keeping the media from reporting dissidents' point of view, they said.

Unless a journalist's right to withhold unpublished and unaired material is recognized, "we're not going to have Mr. Wolf or any reporters covering protests," attorney Jose Luis Fuentes told Alsup. "Confidential sources are not going to come forward. They (journalists) are going to be viewed as investigative arms of the government."

...

Wolf describes himself on his Web site as an activist and anarchist. The videos sought by the grand jury were of a demonstration that Wolf shot on July 8, 2005, in the Mission District, in which a few hundred people marched in protest against the Group of Eight economic summit that was taking place in Scotland.

...

Wolf posted some of the videos on his Web site and sold that footage to local television stations. None of the footage showed any crimes being committed. It was posted Tuesday evening at www.joshwolf.net/grandjury.

Federal prosecutors demanded the rest of the tapes, saying they might contain evidence of attempted arson of a police cruiser -- which Wolf says they do not. Trying to burn a police car would constitute a federal crime, federal authorities argued, because the Police Department receives money from Washington.

Citing the secrecy of grand jury proceedings, federal prosecutors have never explained their interest in the possible burning of a police car, which local authorities typically would investigate. No local charges have ever been filed in connection with that incident.

... Noting that the events Wolf photographed all took place in public, Alsup asked, "Where does Mr. Wolf get to decide what will or will not be made public, when he never made a promise to anyone?"

Alsup was a Supreme Court law clerk when the court ruled in 1972 that the First Amendment does not shield reporters from having to testify before a grand jury. On Tuesday, he acknowledged that some federal courts have since recognized certain legal protections for journalists. But he said none of those cases involved grand jury investigations, in which the courts have repeatedly upheld demands for testimony...

California, like most states, has a shield law...There is no federal shield law, however, and the state law does not apply in federal court.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2006/08/02/MNGNSK9MJ71.DTL

Freelancer doesn't want mainstream job
- Bob Egelko, Chronicle Staff Writer
Wednesday, August 2, 2006

Josh Wolf has one thing in common with Judith Miller, the last journalist jailed by a federal judge: Both of them refused to disclose confidential material sought by grand juries.

Apart from that, Wolf, the 24-year-old San Francisco freelance journalist who was held in contempt of court Tuesday, comes from a different world from Miller, the former New York Times national security reporter who spent 85 days in federal prison last year until she agreed to reveal who told her a Bush administration critic's wife was a CIA agent.

"I'm not (interested) in making it in the world of mainstream media so much as making it as an independent journalist,'' Wolf said in an interview last month. "I see myself continuing to report on the world around me. ... I have reservations in the way journalism is approached.''

While his Web site includes personal videos, Wolf said, "a good portion of my work focuses on political dissent. That's what I've established as a beat.''

Before his confrontation Tuesday with U.S. District Judge William Alsup, Wolf spent part of his time as a self-employed video journalist, displaying his footage on a Web site and distributing some of it to other online sites and documentary-makers. He said he started shortly after the United States invaded Iraq in 2003, first on local public-access cable and then as a blogger.
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2006/08/02/WOLFSIDE.TMP

[illiteratepresident]

http://www.sfgate.com/c/pictures/2006/08/02/ba_videos02_ph3.jpg
Josh Wolf was sent to federal prison Tuesday and could be held for nearly a year after refusing a grand jury's demand that he turn over unaired videotapes. National Lawyers Guild Photo



Cameraman jailed for not yielding tape
JOURNALISTS' RIGHTS? 'Every person ... has to give information to the grand jury if the grand jury wants it,' judge tells S.F. freelancer
- Bob Egelko, Chronicle Staff Writer
Wednesday, August 2, 2006
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2006/08/02/MNGNSK9MJ71.DTL

A freelance journalist and political activist was sent to federal prison Tuesday and could be held for nearly a year after refusing a grand jury's demand that he turn over unaired videotapes of a 2005 anarchist demonstration in which protesters clashed with San Francisco police.

U.S. District Judge William Alsup found Josh Wolf, 24, of San Francisco in contempt of court for failing to comply with a subpoena that the federal grand jury issued Feb. 1...

"Every person, from the president of the United States down to you and me, has to give information to the grand jury if the grand jury wants it,'' the judge said at the end of a 2 1/2-hour hearing in federal court in San Francisco.

Wolf and his lawyers contend that federal authorities are less interested in the alleged arson than they are in disrupting the legitimate political activities of anarchist groups. Forcing Wolf to turn over his videotapes is a way of keeping the media from reporting dissidents' point of view, they said.

Unless a journalist's right to withhold unpublished and unaired material is recognized, "we're not going to have Mr. Wolf or any reporters covering protests," attorney Jose Luis Fuentes told Alsup. "Confidential sources are not going to come forward. They (journalists) are going to be viewed as investigative arms of the government."

...

Wolf describes himself on his Web site as an activist and anarchist. The videos sought by the grand jury were of a demonstration that Wolf shot on July 8, 2005, in the Mission District, in which a few hundred people marched in protest against the Group of Eight economic summit that was taking place in Scotland.

...

Wolf posted some of the videos on his Web site and sold that footage to local television stations. None of the footage showed any crimes being committed. It was posted Tuesday evening at www.joshwolf.net/grandjury.

Federal prosecutors demanded the rest of the tapes, saying they might contain evidence of attempted arson of a police cruiser -- which Wolf says they do not. Trying to burn a police car would constitute a federal crime, federal authorities argued, because the Police Department receives money from Washington.

Citing the secrecy of grand jury proceedings, federal prosecutors have never explained their interest in the possible burning of a police car, which local authorities typically would investigate. No local charges have ever been filed in connection with that incident.

... Noting that the events Wolf photographed all took place in public, Alsup asked, "Where does Mr. Wolf get to decide what will or will not be made public, when he never made a promise to anyone?"

Alsup was a Supreme Court law clerk when the court ruled in 1972 that the First Amendment does not shield reporters from having to testify before a grand jury. On Tuesday, he acknowledged that some federal courts have since recognized certain legal protections for journalists. But he said none of those cases involved grand jury investigations, in which the courts have repeatedly upheld demands for testimony...

California, like most states, has a shield law...There is no federal shield law, however, and the state law does not apply in federal court.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2006/08/02/MNGNSK9MJ71.DTL

Freelancer doesn't want mainstream job
- Bob Egelko, Chronicle Staff Writer
Wednesday, August 2, 2006

Josh Wolf has one thing in common with Judith Miller, the last journalist jailed by a federal judge: Both of them refused to disclose confidential material sought by grand juries.

Apart from that, Wolf, the 24-year-old San Francisco freelance journalist who was held in contempt of court Tuesday, comes from a different world from Miller, the former New York Times national security reporter who spent 85 days in federal prison last year until she agreed to reveal who told her a Bush administration critic's wife was a CIA agent.

"I'm not (interested) in making it in the world of mainstream media so much as making it as an independent journalist,'' Wolf said in an interview last month. "I see myself continuing to report on the world around me. ... I have reservations in the way journalism is approached.''

While his Web site includes personal videos, Wolf said, "a good portion of my work focuses on political dissent. That's what I've established as a beat.''

Before his confrontation Tuesday with U.S. District Judge William Alsup, Wolf spent part of his time as a self-employed video journalist, displaying his footage on a Web site and distributing some of it to other online sites and documentary-makers. He said he started shortly after the United States invaded Iraq in 2003, first on local public-access cable and then as a blogger.
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2006/08/02/WOLFSIDE.TMP

[illiteratepresident]

http://www.sfgate.com/c/pictures/2006/08/02/ba_videos02_ph3.jpg
Josh Wolf was sent to federal prison Tuesday and could be held for nearly a year after refusing a grand jury's demand that he turn over unaired videotapes. National Lawyers Guild Photo



Cameraman jailed for not yielding tape
JOURNALISTS' RIGHTS? 'Every person ... has to give information to the grand jury if the grand jury wants it,' judge tells S.F. freelancer
- Bob Egelko, Chronicle Staff Writer
Wednesday, August 2, 2006
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2006/08/02/MNGNSK9MJ71.DTL

A freelance journalist and political activist was sent to federal prison Tuesday and could be held for nearly a year after refusing a grand jury's demand that he turn over unaired videotapes of a 2005 anarchist demonstration in which protesters clashed with San Francisco police.

U.S. District Judge William Alsup found Josh Wolf, 24, of San Francisco in contempt of court for failing to comply with a subpoena that the federal grand jury issued Feb. 1...

"Every person, from the president of the United States down to you and me, has to give information to the grand jury if the grand jury wants it,'' the judge said at the end of a 2 1/2-hour hearing in federal court in San Francisco.

Wolf and his lawyers contend that federal authorities are less interested in the alleged arson than they are in disrupting the legitimate political activities of anarchist groups. Forcing Wolf to turn over his videotapes is a way of keeping the media from reporting dissidents' point of view, they said.

Unless a journalist's right to withhold unpublished and unaired material is recognized, "we're not going to have Mr. Wolf or any reporters covering protests," attorney Jose Luis Fuentes told Alsup. "Confidential sources are not going to come forward. They (journalists) are going to be viewed as investigative arms of the government."

...

Wolf describes himself on his Web site as an activist and anarchist. The videos sought by the grand jury were of a demonstration that Wolf shot on July 8, 2005, in the Mission District, in which a few hundred people marched in protest against the Group of Eight economic summit that was taking place in Scotland.

...

Wolf posted some of the videos on his Web site and sold that footage to local television stations. None of the footage showed any crimes being committed. It was posted Tuesday evening at www.joshwolf.net/grandjury.

Federal prosecutors demanded the rest of the tapes, saying they might contain evidence of attempted arson of a police cruiser -- which Wolf says they do not. Trying to burn a police car would constitute a federal crime, federal authorities argued, because the Police Department receives money from Washington.

Citing the secrecy of grand jury proceedings, federal prosecutors have never explained their interest in the possible burning of a police car, which local authorities typically would investigate. No local charges have ever been filed in connection with that incident.

... Noting that the events Wolf photographed all took place in public, Alsup asked, "Where does Mr. Wolf get to decide what will or will not be made public, when he never made a promise to anyone?"

Alsup was a Supreme Court law clerk when the court ruled in 1972 that the First Amendment does not shield reporters from having to testify before a grand jury. On Tuesday, he acknowledged that some federal courts have since recognized certain legal protections for journalists. But he said none of those cases involved grand jury investigations, in which the courts have repeatedly upheld demands for testimony...

California, like most states, has a shield law...There is no federal shield law, however, and the state law does not apply in federal court.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2006/08/02/MNGNSK9MJ71.DTL

Freelancer doesn't want mainstream job
- Bob Egelko, Chronicle Staff Writer
Wednesday, August 2, 2006

Josh Wolf has one thing in common with Judith Miller, the last journalist jailed by a federal judge: Both of them refused to disclose confidential material sought by grand juries.

Apart from that, Wolf, the 24-year-old San Francisco freelance journalist who was held in contempt of court Tuesday, comes from a different world from Miller, the former New York Times national security reporter who spent 85 days in federal prison last year until she agreed to reveal who told her a Bush administration critic's wife was a CIA agent.

"I'm not (interested) in making it in the world of mainstream media so much as making it as an independent journalist,'' Wolf said in an interview last month. "I see myself continuing to report on the world around me. ... I have reservations in the way journalism is approached.''

While his Web site includes personal videos, Wolf said, "a good portion of my work focuses on political dissent. That's what I've established as a beat.''

Before his confrontation Tuesday with U.S. District Judge William Alsup, Wolf spent part of his time as a self-employed video journalist, displaying his footage on a Web site and distributing some of it to other online sites and documentary-makers. He said he started shortly after the United States invaded Iraq in 2003, first on local public-access cable and then as a blogger.
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2006/08/02/WOLFSIDE.TMP

[illiteratepresident]

http://www.sfgate.com/c/pictures/2006/08/02/ba_videos02_ph3.jpg
Josh Wolf was sent to federal prison Tuesday and could be held for nearly a year after refusing a grand jury's demand that he turn over unaired videotapes. National Lawyers Guild Photo



Cameraman jailed for not yielding tape
JOURNALISTS' RIGHTS? 'Every person ... has to give information to the grand jury if the grand jury wants it,' judge tells S.F. freelancer
- Bob Egelko, Chronicle Staff Writer
Wednesday, August 2, 2006
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2006/08/02/MNGNSK9MJ71.DTL

A freelance journalist and political activist was sent to federal prison Tuesday and could be held for nearly a year after refusing a grand jury's demand that he turn over unaired videotapes of a 2005 anarchist demonstration in which protesters clashed with San Francisco police.

U.S. District Judge William Alsup found Josh Wolf, 24, of San Francisco in contempt of court for failing to comply with a subpoena that the federal grand jury issued Feb. 1...

"Every person, from the president of the United States down to you and me, has to give information to the grand jury if the grand jury wants it,'' the judge said at the end of a 2 1/2-hour hearing in federal court in San Francisco.

Wolf and his lawyers contend that federal authorities are less interested in the alleged arson than they are in disrupting the legitimate political activities of anarchist groups. Forcing Wolf to turn over his videotapes is a way of keeping the media from reporting dissidents' point of view, they said.

Unless a journalist's right to withhold unpublished and unaired material is recognized, "we're not going to have Mr. Wolf or any reporters covering protests," attorney Jose Luis Fuentes told Alsup. "Confidential sources are not going to come forward. They (journalists) are going to be viewed as investigative arms of the government."

...

Wolf describes himself on his Web site as an activist and anarchist. The videos sought by the grand jury were of a demonstration that Wolf shot on July 8, 2005, in the Mission District, in which a few hundred people marched in protest against the Group of Eight economic summit that was taking place in Scotland.

...

Wolf posted some of the videos on his Web site and sold that footage to local television stations. None of the footage showed any crimes being committed. It was posted Tuesday evening at www.joshwolf.net/grandjury.

Federal prosecutors demanded the rest of the tapes, saying they might contain evidence of attempted arson of a police cruiser -- which Wolf says they do not. Trying to burn a police car would constitute a federal crime, federal authorities argued, because the Police Department receives money from Washington.

Citing the secrecy of grand jury proceedings, federal prosecutors have never explained their interest in the possible burning of a police car, which local authorities typically would investigate. No local charges have ever been filed in connection with that incident.

... Noting that the events Wolf photographed all took place in public, Alsup asked, "Where does Mr. Wolf get to decide what will or will not be made public, when he never made a promise to anyone?"

Alsup was a Supreme Court law clerk when the court ruled in 1972 that the First Amendment does not shield reporters from having to testify before a grand jury. On Tuesday, he acknowledged that some federal courts have since recognized certain legal protections for journalists. But he said none of those cases involved grand jury investigations, in which the courts have repeatedly upheld demands for testimony...

California, like most states, has a shield law...There is no federal shield law, however, and the state law does not apply in federal court.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2006/08/02/MNGNSK9MJ71.DTL

Freelancer doesn't want mainstream job
- Bob Egelko, Chronicle Staff Writer
Wednesday, August 2, 2006

Josh Wolf has one thing in common with Judith Miller, the last journalist jailed by a federal judge: Both of them refused to disclose confidential material sought by grand juries.

Apart from that, Wolf, the 24-year-old San Francisco freelance journalist who was held in contempt of court Tuesday, comes from a different world from Miller, the former New York Times national security reporter who spent 85 days in federal prison last year until she agreed to reveal who told her a Bush administration critic's wife was a CIA agent.

"I'm not (interested) in making it in the world of mainstream media so much as making it as an independent journalist,'' Wolf said in an interview last month. "I see myself continuing to report on the world around me. ... I have reservations in the way journalism is approached.''

While his Web site includes personal videos, Wolf said, "a good portion of my work focuses on political dissent. That's what I've established as a beat.''

Before his confrontation Tuesday with U.S. District Judge William Alsup, Wolf spent part of his time as a self-employed video journalist, displaying his footage on a Web site and distributing some of it to other online sites and documentary-makers. He said he started shortly after the United States invaded Iraq in 2003, first on local public-access cable and then as a blogger.
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2006/08/02/WOLFSIDE.TMP

[illiteratepresident]

http://www.sfgate.com/c/pictures/2006/08/02/ba_videos02_ph3.jpg
Josh Wolf was sent to federal prison Tuesday and could be held for nearly a year after refusing a grand jury's demand that he turn over unaired videotapes. National Lawyers Guild Photo



Cameraman jailed for not yielding tape
JOURNALISTS' RIGHTS? 'Every person ... has to give information to the grand jury if the grand jury wants it,' judge tells S.F. freelancer
- Bob Egelko, Chronicle Staff Writer
Wednesday, August 2, 2006
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2006/08/02/MNGNSK9MJ71.DTL

A freelance journalist and political activist was sent to federal prison Tuesday and could be held for nearly a year after refusing a grand jury's demand that he turn over unaired videotapes of a 2005 anarchist demonstration in which protesters clashed with San Francisco police.

U.S. District Judge William Alsup found Josh Wolf, 24, of San Francisco in contempt of court for failing to comply with a subpoena that the federal grand jury issued Feb. 1...

"Every person, from the president of the United States down to you and me, has to give information to the grand jury if the grand jury wants it,'' the judge said at the end of a 2 1/2-hour hearing in federal court in San Francisco.

Wolf and his lawyers contend that federal authorities are less interested in the alleged arson than they are in disrupting the legitimate political activities of anarchist groups. Forcing Wolf to turn over his videotapes is a way of keeping the media from reporting dissidents' point of view, they said.

Unless a journalist's right to withhold unpublished and unaired material is recognized, "we're not going to have Mr. Wolf or any reporters covering protests," attorney Jose Luis Fuentes told Alsup. "Confidential sources are not going to come forward. They (journalists) are going to be viewed as investigative arms of the government."

...

Wolf describes himself on his Web site as an activist and anarchist. The videos sought by the grand jury were of a demonstration that Wolf shot on July 8, 2005, in the Mission District, in which a few hundred people marched in protest against the Group of Eight economic summit that was taking place in Scotland.

...

Wolf posted some of the videos on his Web site and sold that footage to local television stations. None of the footage showed any crimes being committed. It was posted Tuesday evening at www.joshwolf.net/grandjury.

Federal prosecutors demanded the rest of the tapes, saying they might contain evidence of attempted arson of a police cruiser -- which Wolf says they do not. Trying to burn a police car would constitute a federal crime, federal authorities argued, because the Police Department receives money from Washington.

Citing the secrecy of grand jury proceedings, federal prosecutors have never explained their interest in the possible burning of a police car, which local authorities typically would investigate. No local charges have ever been filed in connection with that incident.

... Noting that the events Wolf photographed all took place in public, Alsup asked, "Where does Mr. Wolf get to decide what will or will not be made public, when he never made a promise to anyone?"

Alsup was a Supreme Court law clerk when the court ruled in 1972 that the First Amendment does not shield reporters from having to testify before a grand jury. On Tuesday, he acknowledged that some federal courts have since recognized certain legal protections for journalists. But he said none of those cases involved grand jury investigations, in which the courts have repeatedly upheld demands for testimony...

California, like most states, has a shield law...There is no federal shield law, however, and the state law does not apply in federal court.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2006/08/02/MNGNSK9MJ71.DTL

Freelancer doesn't want mainstream job
- Bob Egelko, Chronicle Staff Writer
Wednesday, August 2, 2006

Josh Wolf has one thing in common with Judith Miller, the last journalist jailed by a federal judge: Both of them refused to disclose confidential material sought by grand juries.

Apart from that, Wolf, the 24-year-old San Francisco freelance journalist who was held in contempt of court Tuesday, comes from a different world from Miller, the former New York Times national security reporter who spent 85 days in federal prison last year until she agreed to reveal who told her a Bush administration critic's wife was a CIA agent.

"I'm not (interested) in making it in the world of mainstream media so much as making it as an independent journalist,'' Wolf said in an interview last month. "I see myself continuing to report on the world around me. ... I have reservations in the way journalism is approached.''

While his Web site includes personal videos, Wolf said, "a good portion of my work focuses on political dissent. That's what I've established as a beat.''

Before his confrontation Tuesday with U.S. District Judge William Alsup, Wolf spent part of his time as a self-employed video journalist, displaying his footage on a Web site and distributing some of it to other online sites and documentary-makers. He said he started shortly after the United States invaded Iraq in 2003, first on local public-access cable and then as a blogger.
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2006/08/02/WOLFSIDE.TMP

[illiteratepresident]

http://www.sfgate.com/c/pictures/2006/08/02/ba_videos02_ph3.jpg
Josh Wolf was sent to federal prison Tuesday and could be held for nearly a year after refusing a grand jury's demand that he turn over unaired videotapes. National Lawyers Guild Photo



Cameraman jailed for not yielding tape
JOURNALISTS' RIGHTS? 'Every person ... has to give information to the grand jury if the grand jury wants it,' judge tells S.F. freelancer
- Bob Egelko, Chronicle Staff Writer
Wednesday, August 2, 2006
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2006/08/02/MNGNSK9MJ71.DTL

A freelance journalist and political activist was sent to federal prison Tuesday and could be held for nearly a year after refusing a grand jury's demand that he turn over unaired videotapes of a 2005 anarchist demonstration in which protesters clashed with San Francisco police.

U.S. District Judge William Alsup found Josh Wolf, 24, of San Francisco in contempt of court for failing to comply with a subpoena that the federal grand jury issued Feb. 1...

"Every person, from the president of the United States down to you and me, has to give information to the grand jury if the grand jury wants it,'' the judge said at the end of a 2 1/2-hour hearing in federal court in San Francisco.

Wolf and his lawyers contend that federal authorities are less interested in the alleged arson than they are in disrupting the legitimate political activities of anarchist groups. Forcing Wolf to turn over his videotapes is a way of keeping the media from reporting dissidents' point of view, they said.

Unless a journalist's right to withhold unpublished and unaired material is recognized, "we're not going to have Mr. Wolf or any reporters covering protests," attorney Jose Luis Fuentes told Alsup. "Confidential sources are not going to come forward. They (journalists) are going to be viewed as investigative arms of the government."

...

Wolf describes himself on his Web site as an activist and anarchist. The videos sought by the grand jury were of a demonstration that Wolf shot on July 8, 2005, in the Mission District, in which a few hundred people marched in protest against the Group of Eight economic summit that was taking place in Scotland.

...

Wolf posted some of the videos on his Web site and sold that footage to local television stations. None of the footage showed any crimes being committed. It was posted Tuesday evening at www.joshwolf.net/grandjury.

Federal prosecutors demanded the rest of the tapes, saying they might contain evidence of attempted arson of a police cruiser -- which Wolf says they do not. Trying to burn a police car would constitute a federal crime, federal authorities argued, because the Police Department receives money from Washington.

Citing the secrecy of grand jury proceedings, federal prosecutors have never explained their interest in the possible burning of a police car, which local authorities typically would investigate. No local charges have ever been filed in connection with that incident.

... Noting that the events Wolf photographed all took place in public, Alsup asked, "Where does Mr. Wolf get to decide what will or will not be made public, when he never made a promise to anyone?"

Alsup was a Supreme Court law clerk when the court ruled in 1972 that the First Amendment does not shield reporters from having to testify before a grand jury. On Tuesday, he acknowledged that some federal courts have since recognized certain legal protections for journalists. But he said none of those cases involved grand jury investigations, in which the courts have repeatedly upheld demands for testimony...

California, like most states, has a shield law...There is no federal shield law, however, and the state law does not apply in federal court.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2006/08/02/MNGNSK9MJ71.DTL

Freelancer doesn't want mainstream job
- Bob Egelko, Chronicle Staff Writer
Wednesday, August 2, 2006

Josh Wolf has one thing in common with Judith Miller, the last journalist jailed by a federal judge: Both of them refused to disclose confidential material sought by grand juries.

Apart from that, Wolf, the 24-year-old San Francisco freelance journalist who was held in contempt of court Tuesday, comes from a different world from Miller, the former New York Times national security reporter who spent 85 days in federal prison last year until she agreed to reveal who told her a Bush administration critic's wife was a CIA agent.

"I'm not (interested) in making it in the world of mainstream media so much as making it as an independent journalist,'' Wolf said in an interview last month. "I see myself continuing to report on the world around me. ... I have reservations in the way journalism is approached.''

While his Web site includes personal videos, Wolf said, "a good portion of my work focuses on political dissent. That's what I've established as a beat.''

Before his confrontation Tuesday with U.S. District Judge William Alsup, Wolf spent part of his time as a self-employed video journalist, displaying his footage on a Web site and distributing some of it to other online sites and documentary-makers. He said he started shortly after the United States invaded Iraq in 2003, first on local public-access cable and then as a blogger.
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2006/08/02/WOLFSIDE.TMP

[illiteratepresident]

http://www.sfgate.com/c/pictures/2006/08/02/ba_videos02_ph3.jpg
Josh Wolf was sent to federal prison Tuesday and could be held for nearly a year after refusing a grand jury's demand that he turn over unaired videotapes. National Lawyers Guild Photo



Cameraman jailed for not yielding tape
JOURNALISTS' RIGHTS? 'Every person ... has to give information to the grand jury if the grand jury wants it,' judge tells S.F. freelancer
- Bob Egelko, Chronicle Staff Writer
Wednesday, August 2, 2006
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2006/08/02/MNGNSK9MJ71.DTL

A freelance journalist and political activist was sent to federal prison Tuesday and could be held for nearly a year after refusing a grand jury's demand that he turn over unaired videotapes of a 2005 anarchist demonstration in which protesters clashed with San Francisco police.

U.S. District Judge William Alsup found Josh Wolf, 24, of San Francisco in contempt of court for failing to comply with a subpoena that the federal grand jury issued Feb. 1...

"Every person, from the president of the United States down to you and me, has to give information to the grand jury if the grand jury wants it,'' the judge said at the end of a 2 1/2-hour hearing in federal court in San Francisco.

Wolf and his lawyers contend that federal authorities are less interested in the alleged arson than they are in disrupting the legitimate political activities of anarchist groups. Forcing Wolf to turn over his videotapes is a way of keeping the media from reporting dissidents' point of view, they said.

Unless a journalist's right to withhold unpublished and unaired material is recognized, "we're not going to have Mr. Wolf or any reporters covering protests," attorney Jose Luis Fuentes told Alsup. "Confidential sources are not going to come forward. They (journalists) are going to be viewed as investigative arms of the government."

...

Wolf describes himself on his Web site as an activist and anarchist. The videos sought by the grand jury were of a demonstration that Wolf shot on July 8, 2005, in the Mission District, in which a few hundred people marched in protest against the Group of Eight economic summit that was taking place in Scotland.

...

Wolf posted some of the videos on his Web site and sold that footage to local television stations. None of the footage showed any crimes being committed. It was posted Tuesday evening at www.joshwolf.net/grandjury.

Federal prosecutors demanded the rest of the tapes, saying they might contain evidence of attempted arson of a police cruiser -- which Wolf says they do not. Trying to burn a police car would constitute a federal crime, federal authorities argued, because the Police Department receives money from Washington.

Citing the secrecy of grand jury proceedings, federal prosecutors have never explained their interest in the possible burning of a police car, which local authorities typically would investigate. No local charges have ever been filed in connection with that incident.

... Noting that the events Wolf photographed all took place in public, Alsup asked, "Where does Mr. Wolf get to decide what will or will not be made public, when he never made a promise to anyone?"

Alsup was a Supreme Court law clerk when the court ruled in 1972 that the First Amendment does not shield reporters from having to testify before a grand jury. On Tuesday, he acknowledged that some federal courts have since recognized certain legal protections for journalists. But he said none of those cases involved grand jury investigations, in which the courts have repeatedly upheld demands for testimony...

California, like most states, has a shield law...There is no federal shield law, however, and the state law does not apply in federal court.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2006/08/02/MNGNSK9MJ71.DTL

Freelancer doesn't want mainstream job
- Bob Egelko, Chronicle Staff Writer
Wednesday, August 2, 2006

Josh Wolf has one thing in common with Judith Miller, the last journalist jailed by a federal judge: Both of them refused to disclose confidential material sought by grand juries.

Apart from that, Wolf, the 24-year-old San Francisco freelance journalist who was held in contempt of court Tuesday, comes from a different world from Miller, the former New York Times national security reporter who spent 85 days in federal prison last year until she agreed to reveal who told her a Bush administration critic's wife was a CIA agent.

"I'm not (interested) in making it in the world of mainstream media so much as making it as an independent journalist,'' Wolf said in an interview last month. "I see myself continuing to report on the world around me. ... I have reservations in the way journalism is approached.''

While his Web site includes personal videos, Wolf said, "a good portion of my work focuses on political dissent. That's what I've established as a beat.''

Before his confrontation Tuesday with U.S. District Judge William Alsup, Wolf spent part of his time as a self-employed video journalist, displaying his footage on a Web site and distributing some of it to other online sites and documentary-makers. He said he started shortly after the United States invaded Iraq in 2003, first on local public-access cable and then as a blogger.
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2006/08/02/WOLFSIDE.TMP

[illiteratepresident]

http://www.sfgate.com/c/pictures/2006/08/02/ba_videos02_ph3.jpg
Josh Wolf was sent to federal prison Tuesday and could be held for nearly a year after refusing a grand jury's demand that he turn over unaired videotapes. National Lawyers Guild Photo



Cameraman jailed for not yielding tape
JOURNALISTS' RIGHTS? 'Every person ... has to give information to the grand jury if the grand jury wants it,' judge tells S.F. freelancer
- Bob Egelko, Chronicle Staff Writer
Wednesday, August 2, 2006
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2006/08/02/MNGNSK9MJ71.DTL

A freelance journalist and political activist was sent to federal prison Tuesday and could be held for nearly a year after refusing a grand jury's demand that he turn over unaired videotapes of a 2005 anarchist demonstration in which protesters clashed with San Francisco police.

U.S. District Judge William Alsup found Josh Wolf, 24, of San Francisco in contempt of court for failing to comply with a subpoena that the federal grand jury issued Feb. 1...

"Every person, from the president of the United States down to you and me, has to give information to the grand jury if the grand jury wants it,'' the judge said at the end of a 2 1/2-hour hearing in federal court in San Francisco.

Wolf and his lawyers contend that federal authorities are less interested in the alleged arson than they are in disrupting the legitimate political activities of anarchist groups. Forcing Wolf to turn over his videotapes is a way of keeping the media from reporting dissidents' point of view, they said.

Unless a journalist's right to withhold unpublished and unaired material is recognized, "we're not going to have Mr. Wolf or any reporters covering protests," attorney Jose Luis Fuentes told Alsup. "Confidential sources are not going to come forward. They (journalists) are going to be viewed as investigative arms of the government."

...

Wolf describes himself on his Web site as an activist and anarchist. The videos sought by the grand jury were of a demonstration that Wolf shot on July 8, 2005, in the Mission District, in which a few hundred people marched in protest against the Group of Eight economic summit that was taking place in Scotland.

...

Wolf posted some of the videos on his Web site and sold that footage to local television stations. None of the footage showed any crimes being committed. It was posted Tuesday evening at www.joshwolf.net/grandjury.

Federal prosecutors demanded the rest of the tapes, saying they might contain evidence of attempted arson of a police cruiser -- which Wolf says they do not. Trying to burn a police car would constitute a federal crime, federal authorities argued, because the Police Department receives money from Washington.

Citing the secrecy of grand jury proceedings, federal prosecutors have never explained their interest in the possible burning of a police car, which local authorities typically would investigate. No local charges have ever been filed in connection with that incident.

... Noting that the events Wolf photographed all took place in public, Alsup asked, "Where does Mr. Wolf get to decide what will or will not be made public, when he never made a promise to anyone?"

Alsup was a Supreme Court law clerk when the court ruled in 1972 that the First Amendment does not shield reporters from having to testify before a grand jury. On Tuesday, he acknowledged that some federal courts have since recognized certain legal protections for journalists. But he said none of those cases involved grand jury investigations, in which the courts have repeatedly upheld demands for testimony...

California, like most states, has a shield law...There is no federal shield law, however, and the state law does not apply in federal court.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2006/08/02/MNGNSK9MJ71.DTL

Freelancer doesn't want mainstream job
- Bob Egelko, Chronicle Staff Writer
Wednesday, August 2, 2006

Josh Wolf has one thing in common with Judith Miller, the last journalist jailed by a federal judge: Both of them refused to disclose confidential material sought by grand juries.

Apart from that, Wolf, the 24-year-old San Francisco freelance journalist who was held in contempt of court Tuesday, comes from a different world from Miller, the former New York Times national security reporter who spent 85 days in federal prison last year until she agreed to reveal who told her a Bush administration critic's wife was a CIA agent.

"I'm not (interested) in making it in the world of mainstream media so much as making it as an independent journalist,'' Wolf said in an interview last month. "I see myself continuing to report on the world around me. ... I have reservations in the way journalism is approached.''

While his Web site includes personal videos, Wolf said, "a good portion of my work focuses on political dissent. That's what I've established as a beat.''

Before his confrontation Tuesday with U.S. District Judge William Alsup, Wolf spent part of his time as a self-employed video journalist, displaying his footage on a Web site and distributing some of it to other online sites and documentary-makers. He said he started shortly after the United States invaded Iraq in 2003, first on local public-access cable and then as a blogger.
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2006/08/02/WOLFSIDE.TMP

[tlcandie]

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[illiteratepresident]

Freelance journalist and activist Josh Wolf is heading back to jail after a federal appeals court on Monday ordered his bail revoked unless he changes course and gives a federal grand jury outtakes of footage he shot at a violent San Francisco protest in July 2005.

Wolf, who has argued that he has a right as a journalist to withhold unpublished material, plans to turn himself in at the federal prison in Dublin before a 1 p.m. Wednesday deadline, said Jose Luis Fuentes, one of Wolf's attorneys.

A three-judge panel of the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals last week rejected Wolf's appeal of a lower court's decision to hold him in contempt. The same three judges on Monday granted a federal prosecutor's motion to revoke bail.

...

In his argument for revoking bail, prosecutor Jeffrey Finigan wrote that Wolf must be jailed because the "coercive intent behind the recalcitrant witness statute is lessened with each passing day."

Fuentes said jailing his client will not be coercive because Wolf hopes to achieve victory through his appeals. "It's just punishment," Fuentes said.

The subpoena for Wolf's footage was issued by a grand jury investigating the alleged attempted burning of a San Francisco police car at an anarchist-led rally July 8, 2005, in opposition to an economic summit taking place at the time in Scotland.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2006/09/19/BAGQ1L87KV1.DTL

[illiteratepresident]

Freelance journalist and activist Josh Wolf is heading back to jail after a federal appeals court on Monday ordered his bail revoked unless he changes course and gives a federal grand jury outtakes of footage he shot at a violent San Francisco protest in July 2005.

Wolf, who has argued that he has a right as a journalist to withhold unpublished material, plans to turn himself in at the federal prison in Dublin before a 1 p.m. Wednesday deadline, said Jose Luis Fuentes, one of Wolf's attorneys.

A three-judge panel of the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals last week rejected Wolf's appeal of a lower court's decision to hold him in contempt. The same three judges on Monday granted a federal prosecutor's motion to revoke bail.

...

In his argument for revoking bail, prosecutor Jeffrey Finigan wrote that Wolf must be jailed because the "coercive intent behind the recalcitrant witness statute is lessened with each passing day."

Fuentes said jailing his client will not be coercive because Wolf hopes to achieve victory through his appeals. "It's just punishment," Fuentes said.

The subpoena for Wolf's footage was issued by a grand jury investigating the alleged attempted burning of a San Francisco police car at an anarchist-led rally July 8, 2005, in opposition to an economic summit taking place at the time in Scotland.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2006/09/19/BAGQ1L87KV1.DTL

[illiteratepresident]

Freelance journalist and activist Josh Wolf is heading back to jail after a federal appeals court on Monday ordered his bail revoked unless he changes course and gives a federal grand jury outtakes of footage he shot at a violent San Francisco protest in July 2005.

Wolf, who has argued that he has a right as a journalist to withhold unpublished material, plans to turn himself in at the federal prison in Dublin before a 1 p.m. Wednesday deadline, said Jose Luis Fuentes, one of Wolf's attorneys.

A three-judge panel of the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals last week rejected Wolf's appeal of a lower court's decision to hold him in contempt. The same three judges on Monday granted a federal prosecutor's motion to revoke bail.

...

In his argument for revoking bail, prosecutor Jeffrey Finigan wrote that Wolf must be jailed because the "coercive intent behind the recalcitrant witness statute is lessened with each passing day."

Fuentes said jailing his client will not be coercive because Wolf hopes to achieve victory through his appeals. "It's just punishment," Fuentes said.

The subpoena for Wolf's footage was issued by a grand jury investigating the alleged attempted burning of a San Francisco police car at an anarchist-led rally July 8, 2005, in opposition to an economic summit taking place at the time in Scotland.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2006/09/19/BAGQ1L87KV1.DTL

[illiteratepresident]

Freelance journalist and activist Josh Wolf is heading back to jail after a federal appeals court on Monday ordered his bail revoked unless he changes course and gives a federal grand jury outtakes of footage he shot at a violent San Francisco protest in July 2005.

Wolf, who has argued that he has a right as a journalist to withhold unpublished material, plans to turn himself in at the federal prison in Dublin before a 1 p.m. Wednesday deadline, said Jose Luis Fuentes, one of Wolf's attorneys.

A three-judge panel of the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals last week rejected Wolf's appeal of a lower court's decision to hold him in contempt. The same three judges on Monday granted a federal prosecutor's motion to revoke bail.

...

In his argument for revoking bail, prosecutor Jeffrey Finigan wrote that Wolf must be jailed because the "coercive intent behind the recalcitrant witness statute is lessened with each passing day."

Fuentes said jailing his client will not be coercive because Wolf hopes to achieve victory through his appeals. "It's just punishment," Fuentes said.

The subpoena for Wolf's footage was issued by a grand jury investigating the alleged attempted burning of a San Francisco police car at an anarchist-led rally July 8, 2005, in opposition to an economic summit taking place at the time in Scotland.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2006/09/19/BAGQ1L87KV1.DTL

[illiteratepresident]

Freelance journalist and activist Josh Wolf is heading back to jail after a federal appeals court on Monday ordered his bail revoked unless he changes course and gives a federal grand jury outtakes of footage he shot at a violent San Francisco protest in July 2005.

Wolf, who has argued that he has a right as a journalist to withhold unpublished material, plans to turn himself in at the federal prison in Dublin before a 1 p.m. Wednesday deadline, said Jose Luis Fuentes, one of Wolf's attorneys.

A three-judge panel of the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals last week rejected Wolf's appeal of a lower court's decision to hold him in contempt. The same three judges on Monday granted a federal prosecutor's motion to revoke bail.

...

In his argument for revoking bail, prosecutor Jeffrey Finigan wrote that Wolf must be jailed because the "coercive intent behind the recalcitrant witness statute is lessened with each passing day."

Fuentes said jailing his client will not be coercive because Wolf hopes to achieve victory through his appeals. "It's just punishment," Fuentes said.

The subpoena for Wolf's footage was issued by a grand jury investigating the alleged attempted burning of a San Francisco police car at an anarchist-led rally July 8, 2005, in opposition to an economic summit taking place at the time in Scotland.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2006/09/19/BAGQ1L87KV1.DTL

[illiteratepresident]

Freelance journalist and activist Josh Wolf is heading back to jail after a federal appeals court on Monday ordered his bail revoked unless he changes course and gives a federal grand jury outtakes of footage he shot at a violent San Francisco protest in July 2005.

Wolf, who has argued that he has a right as a journalist to withhold unpublished material, plans to turn himself in at the federal prison in Dublin before a 1 p.m. Wednesday deadline, said Jose Luis Fuentes, one of Wolf's attorneys.

A three-judge panel of the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals last week rejected Wolf's appeal of a lower court's decision to hold him in contempt. The same three judges on Monday granted a federal prosecutor's motion to revoke bail.

...

In his argument for revoking bail, prosecutor Jeffrey Finigan wrote that Wolf must be jailed because the "coercive intent behind the recalcitrant witness statute is lessened with each passing day."

Fuentes said jailing his client will not be coercive because Wolf hopes to achieve victory through his appeals. "It's just punishment," Fuentes said.

The subpoena for Wolf's footage was issued by a grand jury investigating the alleged attempted burning of a San Francisco police car at an anarchist-led rally July 8, 2005, in opposition to an economic summit taking place at the time in Scotland.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2006/09/19/BAGQ1L87KV1.DTL

[illiteratepresident]

Freelance journalist and activist Josh Wolf is heading back to jail after a federal appeals court on Monday ordered his bail revoked unless he changes course and gives a federal grand jury outtakes of footage he shot at a violent San Francisco protest in July 2005.

Wolf, who has argued that he has a right as a journalist to withhold unpublished material, plans to turn himself in at the federal prison in Dublin before a 1 p.m. Wednesday deadline, said Jose Luis Fuentes, one of Wolf's attorneys.

A three-judge panel of the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals last week rejected Wolf's appeal of a lower court's decision to hold him in contempt. The same three judges on Monday granted a federal prosecutor's motion to revoke bail.

...

In his argument for revoking bail, prosecutor Jeffrey Finigan wrote that Wolf must be jailed because the "coercive intent behind the recalcitrant witness statute is lessened with each passing day."

Fuentes said jailing his client will not be coercive because Wolf hopes to achieve victory through his appeals. "It's just punishment," Fuentes said.

The subpoena for Wolf's footage was issued by a grand jury investigating the alleged attempted burning of a San Francisco police car at an anarchist-led rally July 8, 2005, in opposition to an economic summit taking place at the time in Scotland.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2006/09/19/BAGQ1L87KV1.DTL

[illiteratepresident]

Freelance journalist and activist Josh Wolf is heading back to jail after a federal appeals court on Monday ordered his bail revoked unless he changes course and gives a federal grand jury outtakes of footage he shot at a violent San Francisco protest in July 2005.

Wolf, who has argued that he has a right as a journalist to withhold unpublished material, plans to turn himself in at the federal prison in Dublin before a 1 p.m. Wednesday deadline, said Jose Luis Fuentes, one of Wolf's attorneys.

A three-judge panel of the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals last week rejected Wolf's appeal of a lower court's decision to hold him in contempt. The same three judges on Monday granted a federal prosecutor's motion to revoke bail.

...

In his argument for revoking bail, prosecutor Jeffrey Finigan wrote that Wolf must be jailed because the "coercive intent behind the recalcitrant witness statute is lessened with each passing day."

Fuentes said jailing his client will not be coercive because Wolf hopes to achieve victory through his appeals. "It's just punishment," Fuentes said.

The subpoena for Wolf's footage was issued by a grand jury investigating the alleged attempted burning of a San Francisco police car at an anarchist-led rally July 8, 2005, in opposition to an economic summit taking place at the time in Scotland.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2006/09/19/BAGQ1L87KV1.DTL

[illiteratepresident]

Freelance journalist and activist Josh Wolf is heading back to jail after a federal appeals court on Monday ordered his bail revoked unless he changes course and gives a federal grand jury outtakes of footage he shot at a violent San Francisco protest in July 2005.

Wolf, who has argued that he has a right as a journalist to withhold unpublished material, plans to turn himself in at the federal prison in Dublin before a 1 p.m. Wednesday deadline, said Jose Luis Fuentes, one of Wolf's attorneys.

A three-judge panel of the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals last week rejected Wolf's appeal of a lower court's decision to hold him in contempt. The same three judges on Monday granted a federal prosecutor's motion to revoke bail.

...

In his argument for revoking bail, prosecutor Jeffrey Finigan wrote that Wolf must be jailed because the "coercive intent behind the recalcitrant witness statute is lessened with each passing day."

Fuentes said jailing his client will not be coercive because Wolf hopes to achieve victory through his appeals. "It's just punishment," Fuentes said.

The subpoena for Wolf's footage was issued by a grand jury investigating the alleged attempted burning of a San Francisco police car at an anarchist-led rally July 8, 2005, in opposition to an economic summit taking place at the time in Scotland.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2006/09/19/BAGQ1L87KV1.DTL

[illiteratepresident]

Freelance journalist and activist Josh Wolf is heading back to jail after a federal appeals court on Monday ordered his bail revoked unless he changes course and gives a federal grand jury outtakes of footage he shot at a violent San Francisco protest in July 2005.

Wolf, who has argued that he has a right as a journalist to withhold unpublished material, plans to turn himself in at the federal prison in Dublin before a 1 p.m. Wednesday deadline, said Jose Luis Fuentes, one of Wolf's attorneys.

A three-judge panel of the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals last week rejected Wolf's appeal of a lower court's decision to hold him in contempt. The same three judges on Monday granted a federal prosecutor's motion to revoke bail.

...

In his argument for revoking bail, prosecutor Jeffrey Finigan wrote that Wolf must be jailed because the "coercive intent behind the recalcitrant witness statute is lessened with each passing day."

Fuentes said jailing his client will not be coercive because Wolf hopes to achieve victory through his appeals. "It's just punishment," Fuentes said.

The subpoena for Wolf's footage was issued by a grand jury investigating the alleged attempted burning of a San Francisco police car at an anarchist-led rally July 8, 2005, in opposition to an economic summit taking place at the time in Scotland.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2006/09/19/BAGQ1L87KV1.DTL

[illiteratepresident]

Freelance journalist and activist Josh Wolf is heading back to jail after a federal appeals court on Monday ordered his bail revoked unless he changes course and gives a federal grand jury outtakes of footage he shot at a violent San Francisco protest in July 2005.

Wolf, who has argued that he has a right as a journalist to withhold unpublished material, plans to turn himself in at the federal prison in Dublin before a 1 p.m. Wednesday deadline, said Jose Luis Fuentes, one of Wolf's attorneys.

A three-judge panel of the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals last week rejected Wolf's appeal of a lower court's decision to hold him in contempt. The same three judges on Monday granted a federal prosecutor's motion to revoke bail.

...

In his argument for revoking bail, prosecutor Jeffrey Finigan wrote that Wolf must be jailed because the "coercive intent behind the recalcitrant witness statute is lessened with each passing day."

Fuentes said jailing his client will not be coercive because Wolf hopes to achieve victory through his appeals. "It's just punishment," Fuentes said.

The subpoena for Wolf's footage was issued by a grand jury investigating the alleged attempted burning of a San Francisco police car at an anarchist-led rally July 8, 2005, in opposition to an economic summit taking place at the time in Scotland.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2006/09/19/BAGQ1L87KV1.DTL

[illiteratepresident]

Freelance journalist and activist Josh Wolf is heading back to jail after a federal appeals court on Monday ordered his bail revoked unless he changes course and gives a federal grand jury outtakes of footage he shot at a violent San Francisco protest in July 2005.

Wolf, who has argued that he has a right as a journalist to withhold unpublished material, plans to turn himself in at the federal prison in Dublin before a 1 p.m. Wednesday deadline, said Jose Luis Fuentes, one of Wolf's attorneys.

A three-judge panel of the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals last week rejected Wolf's appeal of a lower court's decision to hold him in contempt. The same three judges on Monday granted a federal prosecutor's motion to revoke bail.

...

In his argument for revoking bail, prosecutor Jeffrey Finigan wrote that Wolf must be jailed because the "coercive intent behind the recalcitrant witness statute is lessened with each passing day."

Fuentes said jailing his client will not be coercive because Wolf hopes to achieve victory through his appeals. "It's just punishment," Fuentes said.

The subpoena for Wolf's footage was issued by a grand jury investigating the alleged attempted burning of a San Francisco police car at an anarchist-led rally July 8, 2005, in opposition to an economic summit taking place at the time in Scotland.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2006/09/19/BAGQ1L87KV1.DTL

[illiteratepresident]

San Francisco Chronicle
Mark Fainaru-Wada and Lance Williams will appear in federal court on Thursday. "They will invoke the value of confidential sources in reporting ranging from the Pentagon Papers to Watergate to Abu Ghraib," writes Joe Garofoli. "They will say that if they identify their sources, their careers will be finished; no one would trust them again."
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2006/09/20/MNGNDL90AR1.DTL

[illiteratepresident]

San Francisco Chronicle
Mark Fainaru-Wada and Lance Williams will appear in federal court on Thursday. "They will invoke the value of confidential sources in reporting ranging from the Pentagon Papers to Watergate to Abu Ghraib," writes Joe Garofoli. "They will say that if they identify their sources, their careers will be finished; no one would trust them again."
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2006/09/20/MNGNDL90AR1.DTL

[illiteratepresident]

San Francisco Chronicle
Mark Fainaru-Wada and Lance Williams will appear in federal court on Thursday. "They will invoke the value of confidential sources in reporting ranging from the Pentagon Papers to Watergate to Abu Ghraib," writes Joe Garofoli. "They will say that if they identify their sources, their careers will be finished; no one would trust them again."
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2006/09/20/MNGNDL90AR1.DTL

[illiteratepresident]

San Francisco Chronicle
Mark Fainaru-Wada and Lance Williams will appear in federal court on Thursday. "They will invoke the value of confidential sources in reporting ranging from the Pentagon Papers to Watergate to Abu Ghraib," writes Joe Garofoli. "They will say that if they identify their sources, their careers will be finished; no one would trust them again."
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2006/09/20/MNGNDL90AR1.DTL

[illiteratepresident]

San Francisco Chronicle
Mark Fainaru-Wada and Lance Williams will appear in federal court on Thursday. "They will invoke the value of confidential sources in reporting ranging from the Pentagon Papers to Watergate to Abu Ghraib," writes Joe Garofoli. "They will say that if they identify their sources, their careers will be finished; no one would trust them again."
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2006/09/20/MNGNDL90AR1.DTL

[illiteratepresident]

San Francisco Chronicle
Mark Fainaru-Wada and Lance Williams will appear in federal court on Thursday. "They will invoke the value of confidential sources in reporting ranging from the Pentagon Papers to Watergate to Abu Ghraib," writes Joe Garofoli. "They will say that if they identify their sources, their careers will be finished; no one would trust them again."
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2006/09/20/MNGNDL90AR1.DTL

[illiteratepresident]

San Francisco Chronicle
Mark Fainaru-Wada and Lance Williams will appear in federal court on Thursday. "They will invoke the value of confidential sources in reporting ranging from the Pentagon Papers to Watergate to Abu Ghraib," writes Joe Garofoli. "They will say that if they identify their sources, their careers will be finished; no one would trust them again."
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2006/09/20/MNGNDL90AR1.DTL

[illiteratepresident]

San Francisco Chronicle
Mark Fainaru-Wada and Lance Williams will appear in federal court on Thursday. "They will invoke the value of confidential sources in reporting ranging from the Pentagon Papers to Watergate to Abu Ghraib," writes Joe Garofoli. "They will say that if they identify their sources, their careers will be finished; no one would trust them again."
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2006/09/20/MNGNDL90AR1.DTL

[illiteratepresident]

San Francisco Chronicle
Mark Fainaru-Wada and Lance Williams will appear in federal court on Thursday. "They will invoke the value of confidential sources in reporting ranging from the Pentagon Papers to Watergate to Abu Ghraib," writes Joe Garofoli. "They will say that if they identify their sources, their careers will be finished; no one would trust them again."
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2006/09/20/MNGNDL90AR1.DTL

[illiteratepresident]

San Francisco Chronicle
Mark Fainaru-Wada and Lance Williams will appear in federal court on Thursday. "They will invoke the value of confidential sources in reporting ranging from the Pentagon Papers to Watergate to Abu Ghraib," writes Joe Garofoli. "They will say that if they identify their sources, their careers will be finished; no one would trust them again."
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2006/09/20/MNGNDL90AR1.DTL

[illiteratepresident]

San Francisco Chronicle
Mark Fainaru-Wada and Lance Williams will appear in federal court on Thursday. "They will invoke the value of confidential sources in reporting ranging from the Pentagon Papers to Watergate to Abu Ghraib," writes Joe Garofoli. "They will say that if they identify their sources, their careers will be finished; no one would trust them again."
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2006/09/20/MNGNDL90AR1.DTL

[illiteratepresident]

San Francisco Chronicle
Mark Fainaru-Wada and Lance Williams will appear in federal court on Thursday. "They will invoke the value of confidential sources in reporting ranging from the Pentagon Papers to Watergate to Abu Ghraib," writes Joe Garofoli. "They will say that if they identify their sources, their careers will be finished; no one would trust them again."
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2006/09/20/MNGNDL90AR1.DTL

[illiteratepresident]

http://www.sfgate.com/c/pictures/2007/04/04/ba_wolfmjm018.jpg

(04-03) 15:33 PDT SAN FRANCISCO -- Josh Wolf, the blogger whose record 7 1/2 months in federal prison stirred debate about who qualifies as a journalist and what legal protections they should receive, was freed today after releasing video footage sought by prosecutors about an anarchist protest.

[Hear Josh Wolf's news conference (.mp3)]

Wolf, 24, held in contempt by a federal judge last August for defying a grand jury subpoena, walked out of the Federal Correctional Institution in Dublin at mid-afternoon after his lawyers and federal prosecutors reached a compromise, with the help of a federal magistrate.

Wolf posted the uncut video on his Web site, gave prosecutors a copy and denied under oath that he knew anything about violent incidents at the July 2005 protest. In return, his lawyers said, prosecutors agreed not to summon him before the grand jury or ask him to identify any of the protesters shown on his video.

Prosecutors' withdrawal of their demand for his testimony was the key to the deal, Wolf told reporters outside the prison gate.

"Journalists absolutely have to remain independent of law enforcement,'' he said. "Otherwise, people will never trust journalists.''

Asked about his imprisonment -- the longest-ever for a U.S. journalist for withholding information -- Wolf said, "Absolutely, this was worth it. I would do it again if I had to.'' He also said his case showed the need for a federal "shield law'' that would protect journalists, including bloggers, from having to disclose confidential sources or unpublished material.

California and most other states have shield laws, but they do not apply to proceedings in federal court.

Federal prosecutors had sought Wolf's videos of the 2005 protest in San Francisco's Mission District in which a police officer suffered a fractured skull. Prosecutors said they were investigating a possible arson attempt against a police car, potentially a federal crime because the Police Department receives federal funds.

Portions of the video were shown on local television, but Wolf refused to turn over the outtakes to the grand jury and said they contained no evidence of a crime.

Journalists' organizations rallied to Wolf's support and cited his case as evidence of the need for a federal shield law, which has been introduced in Congress. But prosecutors argued that Wolf, a political activist who posts his videos and commentary on his blog, was not a legitimate journalist.

Wolf said today he considers himself a journalist in the same tradition as independent pamphleteers like Thomas Paine.

"A journalist's mission is to provide the truth to the public,'' he said. "I came out to the protest to document it and to provide the truth to the public.''
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2007/04/03/BAGLRP0PAP4.DTL

[RealityBender]

but would it have been that hard to claim he no longer had the tapes? not to mention the question of why didn't the wallopers just get a warrant to search his house/work in order to gain evidence??