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Josh Wolf is Not Still in Jail
Update: In exchange for not having to identify anyone on the tape or testify about what people told him at the protest, Josh is turning it over and being released, according to news reports. He's also posted it.
Josh Wolf is still in jail. You can read about his case on Wikipedia and at his own website. He's been in jail for over 200 days, held on civil contempt, for refusing to obey a federal subpoena to turn over tapes. Legal issues aside--the arguments about various interpretations of various shield laws are complex--he is steadfastly resisting the idea that the state should be able to rifle through his pockets on what, many agree, is a very flimsy pretext. In an age when we all have camera phones and email notes on each others' activities and opinions, I have to admire someone taking a stand against that trend.
Civil disobedience, however, hinges on the hope that the rest of us will notice and pay attention to other people's principled stands, and that we will speak up when we think our Government is acting badly. In this age of irony and ostriches, it's easy to ignore or cynically dismiss a random stranger. But I've met Josh, he's a kind and thoughtful person, and so I ask you to try to put aside your apathy or cynicism, just for a minute. Consider that if someone is willing to stay in jail for over 200 days to make a point, that point might be worth paying attention to. Some of the groups calling for Josh's release are: the American Civil Liberties Union, the Society of Professional Journalists, the National Press Club, Newspaper Guild/Communications Workers of America, the National Lawyer’s Guild, the Northern California Media Workers Guild, the California Newspaper Publishers Association, Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, the Center for Media and Democracy, Reporters Without Borders, the National Writers Union, the San Francisco Chronicle, San Francisco Bay Guardian, and the Contra Costa Times.
There's a new U.S. attorney who might reconsider the case, and Josh has a mediation meeting on Monday.
Comments (3)
You do realize that the interim US Attorney is Scott Schools, don't you? He was the deputy US Attorney (and some say the man who ran the office) under Strom Thurmond, Jr., in South Carolina before serving at the pleasure of the President in San Francisco.
Posted on Apr-01-2007 | Link
I'm sure Josh is a kind an thoughtful person, but that is irrelevant to the facts at hand. A grand jury is conducting an investigation into arson. Someone fired a bottle rocket at a police car. These things don't happen by accident. Thankfully nobody was injured.
He is neither a jorunalist nor committed to a journalistic career. He is an amateur filmmaker. A video camera and an internet connection does not a journalist make.
There is no glory or honor in standing up for the wrong principles. He deserves every day that he spends in jail - not because he is a jolly fellow, but because he, an amateur filmmaker, is purposely witholding evidence from a grand jury investigation.
Posted on Apr-02-2007 | Link
Tim G: the bottle incident is alleged. While the whole purpose of the grand jury is to find out if a crime has occured, there is much reason to doubt that it is even in their jurisdiction. But my argument is not a legal argument anyway.
He is neither a jorunalist nor committed to a journalistic career. He is an amateur filmmaker. A video camera and an internet connection does not a journalist make.
Your latter statement is extremely arguable but your first statement is simply incorrect. Josh is massively committed to a career in documentary film. He has also freelanced. Many good journalists are freelancers, and the Society of Professional Journalists has endorsed his case. I think they have some idea about who a Professional Journalist is.
He deserves every day that he spends in jail - not because he is a jolly fellow, but because he, an amateur filmmaker, is purposely witholding evidence from a grand jury investigation.
Wow. So this minor action, which isn't even a misdemenor, deserves more jailtime than many actual crimes? How many more days do you want to keep him there, pray tell?
It is my belief that this case is a symptom of the federal grand jury system and the U.S. Attorney policy going out of control--behaving wrongly and in bad faith. (I think this might be a pointer towards why, when given the option, the newer, western states dispensed with grand juries and picked up preliminary trials instead.) Josh could give in to that bad behavior, hand over the tapes, and go on with his merry life. But the more they do that, the more all of us have to empty our pockets at the government's whim, with absolutely no cause. He's taking a stand agaisnt that bad behavior instead. The U.S. Attorney ---my U.S. attorney--may have made an adaquate legal case before the unknown, unfiltered grand jury and the judges, but he hasn't made a good case to me that he is persuing a good policy. I'm not actually making a legal argument--I'll leave that to the lawyers. I'm making a policy argument. As a citizen under this U.S. Attorney's jurisdiction, I object to his use of the grand jury to empty Josh's pockets on such a flimsy pretext. I don't want to encourage that behavior by keeping silent.
Oh uninitialed one--it's worth a shot, eh? I don't know much about Schools or Thurmond Jr., but I have in the past tried to give the latter the benefit of the doubt.
Posted on Apr-03-2007 | Link