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<font size=3><br><br>
</font><font face="Arial, Helvetica" size=3>For Immediate Release August
31, 2006<br><br>
</font><font face="Arial, Helvetica" size=5><b>Ninth Circuit Grants Bail
for Jailed Journalist Josh Wolf<br><br>
</font><font face="Arial, Helvetica" size=3>Lawyers Guild Hopeful, Strong
Free Speech Decision Possible<br><br>
</b>Contact Carlos Villarreal at 415-285-5067 x 10 or Dan Siegel at
510-839-1200 x 4<br><br>
<br><br>
SAN FRANCISCO – The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals granted bail today to
Josh Wolf – the independent journalist and blogger who was jailed August
1st for refusing to turn over video footage to a federal grand jury.
<br><br>
<br><br>
<b>Press Conference<br><br>
Friday, September 1 at 1 p.m.<br><br>
U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit Building<br><br>
95 Seventh Street in San Francisco<br><br>
Speakers: Josh Wolf, Attorney Dan Siegel of Siegel & Yee, Carlos
Villarreal of the National Lawyers Guild<br><br>
</b> <br><br>
Since Wolf’s jailing a number of organizations besides the National
Lawyers Guild have voiced support for Wolf and condemnation of the
Federal Government. This month the Society For Professional Journalists
made a donation of $30,000 to his defense. The ACLU and the Reporters
Committee for Freedom of the Press have both filed amicus curiae on
behalf of Wolf. The San Francisco Board of Supervisors, led by Ross
Mirkarimi and Tom Ammiano, also adopted a resolution this month urging
the passage of a Federal Shield Law and condemning the federal
government’s actions in the Wolf case. The resolution charges that
the grand jury is an “attempt to circumvent the local judicial system,”
since the crime being investigated involves an alleged attack on a San
Francisco police car.<br><br>
<br><br>
“This provides some vindication and we are cautiously optimistic about
what the Ninth Circuit will ultimately decide,” said Carlos Villarreal,
Executive Director of the National Lawyers Guild San Francisco Bay
Area. “We are hopeful that the justices are going to consider the
importance of a free and independent media, especially when journalists
are covering free speech activities.”<br><br>
<br><br>
Josh Wolf was ordered in contempt by Federal Judge William Alsup on
August 1st. The US Attorney’s Office, led by Assistant US Attorney
Jeffrey Finigan, wants Wolf to testify before a federal grand jury and
hand over a video tape of a protest that occurred in San Francisco’s
Mission District last July.<br><br>
<br><br>
Court documents and past news articles can be found at
<a href="http://joshwolf.net/grandjury/">
http://joshwolf.net/grandjury/</a><br>
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<font size=3 color="#FF0000">The Freedom Archives<br>
522 Valencia Street<br>
San Francisco, CA 94110<br>
(415) 863-9977<br>
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