By G.W. Schulz
San Francisco Bay Guardian
July 25, 2006
Excerpt:
If freelance journalist Josh Wolf goes
to jail for refusing to turn over what federal prosecutors say is video
evidence of a crime that allegedly took place during a demonstration in
July 2005, he'll no doubt become a bigger cause celebre in the
lefty blogosphere.
But that doesn't exactly make the prospect of jail time tantalizing.
Wolf was hit with civil-contempt charges after refusing to testify
before a federal grand jury and turn over video footage he'd obtained
at a demonstration last summer in the Mission District against a G8
meeting in Scotland.
Some of the video has appeared publicly and Jeffrey Finigan, a
prosecuting attorney involved in the case, saw it and wanted more.
Prosecutors believe other portions of the tape, edited out by Wolf,
contain evidence of protesters torching a cop car. Wolf denies that but
says he's standing on principle in withholding the tape. At the state
level, Wolf is protected by California's Shield Law, which is designed
to protect the news-gathering process, but there is no federal
equivalent.
