Posted on 09/11/2006 10:34:04 AM PDT by SmithL
San Francisco -- A federal appeals court on Monday upheld the contempt of court citation against a San Francisco freelance journalist who is refusing to cooperate with a grand jury investigating an anarchists' protest he videotaped.
A federal grand jury subpoenaed Joshua Wolf to acquire the 30 minutes of unpublished material, but he refused and he was ordered jailed Aug. 1. He was released a month later as he appealed his case.
The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Monday that 1972 Supreme Court precedent requires everyone, including journalists, to appear before grand juries if they have been summoned.
"The Supreme Court has declined to interpret the First Amendment to 'grant newsmen a testimonial privilege that other citizens do not enjoy,'" a three-judge panel of the San Francisco-based appeals court wrote.
(Excerpt) Read more at sfgate.com ...
It's about time they did soemthing right.
is it really a turnaround or did the ruling make a highly technical argument, saying "he must appear" but not saying he "couldn't assert privilege" when making that appearance? /nuance
Thank goodness. I hate Josh Wolf.
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