Great article that really shows the extent the government is going in order to compel people to talk even when they might not know anything. Here’s a quick quote from the article below:
“The U.S. government's harassment of Josh Wolf is part of a broader, renewed use of the federal grand jury to suppress dissent. Information compiled by the GJRP shows that grand juries are currently being used against environmental and animal rights activists, as well as groups that have historically struggled for self-determination, like the Black Panther Party, frequently based on information from years, and in some cases decades, ago. GJRP reports that in the past year, at least 54 individuals have been subpoenaed and/or indicted in Denver, Eugene, Sacramento, San Francisco, San Diego, Tampa, FL, and Trenton, NJ. At least fourteen people refused to testify, and some were jailed for contempt.”
Article:
Independent Journalist Asserts Constitutional Rights to Resist Federal Grand Jury Subpoena
http://www.envirolink.org/external.html?itemid=200606190644500.931192
by Kris Hermes ( krishermes [at] earthlink.net )
Saturday Jun 17th, 2006 7:12 PM
U.S. government dismissed subpoena yesterday to compel testimony and video evidence to grand jury in San Francisco.
For Immediate Release: June 16, 2006
Grand Jury Resistance Project
gjrp [at] fbiwitchhunt.org
San Francisco -- In a show of courage against an attempt by the federal government to obtain First Amendment protected information, independent journalist Josh Wolf refused to testify or provide video evidence yesterday to a federal grand jury convened in February. The grand jury is investigating events surrounding a July 2005 demonstration against the Group of Eight (G8) meeting that year in Scotland. Wolf asserted his First, Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, and Fourteenth Amendment Rights as a basis for declining to answer the grand jury.
In a closed session, San Francisco District Court Judge William Alsup threatened Wolf with confinement for civil contempt if he did not comply with the subpoena. Judge Alsup was not the judge assigned to the case, and unfamiliar with prior proceedings, but insisted on hearing the matter. Making his position clear from the start, Judge Alsup ordered the hearing closed, barring a number of supporters and a San Francisco Chronicle reporter from the courtroom. The order ignored both Ninth Circuit case law and a previous order by Magistrate Maria-Elena James requiring that the hearings in the case be open.
At one point during the closed hearing, Judge Alsup called in U.S. Marshals in what appeared to be an attempt to intimidate Wolf and his attorneys. "What we saw today was the harassment and intimidation of a journalist and an activist," said Samantha Levens of the Grand Jury Resistance Project (GJRP), who observed the Marshals in the courtroom. "Yet, the dismissal of the subpoena shows how important it is to resist misuse of government power in order to obstruct political fishing expeditions and suppression of free speech rights."
The grand jury was convened ostensibly to investigate alleged damage to a police vehicle at the time of the July protest. However, the GJRP, a coalition of lawyers and activists working to resist politically motivated attacks by government, condemned the still-active investigation. The GJRP claimed that the San Francisco Police Department (SFPD) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) are working together to misuse the federal grand jury to circumvent the California Shield Law, which protects journalists' files and notes.
The U.S. government's harassment of Josh Wolf is part of a broader, renewed use of the federal grand jury to suppress dissent. Information compiled by the GJRP shows that grand juries are currently being used against environmental and animal rights activists, as well as groups that have historically struggled for self-determination, like the Black Panther Party, frequently based on information from years, and in some cases decades, ago. GJRP reports that in the past year, at least 54 individuals have been subpoenaed and/or indicted in Denver, Eugene, Sacramento, San Francisco, San Diego, Tampa, FL, and Trenton, NJ. At least fourteen people refused to testify, and some were jailed for contempt. In an affidavit filed in connection with the indictment of three environmental activists in Auburn, CA, the FBI irrelevantly referenced "anarchists" and "anarchism" 26 times. The GJRP believes that the grand jury to which Josh Wolf was subpoenaed is part of the same, broad and unconstitutional federal investigation into anarchist and antiwar activity as well as other political movements that oppose U.S. policies.
GEARI (the Group for the Education of Animal - Related Issues) is a non-profit educational group dedicated to assisting you in your search for information on animal rights-related issues, the environment and human health. Your reference source for animal rights information. Visit us at our web site at http://www.geari.org. Follow us on Facebook and Twitter, or Syndicate us via RSS.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Search for More Content
Custom Search
Past Articles
-
▼
2006
(726)
-
▼
June
(70)
- Farm Animal Stewardship Purchasing Act Would Requi...
- Site Set Up to Support Lost and Found Companion “P...
- Interesting New Site Takes a Look at the Truth Beh...
- Teen Will Spend Two Weeks Chained To a Doghouse to...
- Group Releases List of Precautions and Steps to Ta...
- American Horse Slaughter Prevention Act: Stop Hor...
- Excellent Summation of Laws Either Enacted or Curr...
- Pets as Companions: Words Mean A Lot: Changing the...
- Kangaroo Island Near Australia Takes on Feral Cat ...
- Designer Dogs: Big Price tags and Big Health Prob...
- Hawaii Makes Major Steps and Signs into Law Two La...
- Beluga Sturgeon Hearty to Have Survived from Prehi...
- For Two And A Half Thousand Dollars, Wellington Zo...
- For First Time in Decades, Japan and Its Pro-Whali...
- Man Will Start a Eight-Day Cycle to Raise as Much ...
- Jane Goodall and Researchers Send Letter to Federa...
- Group Asks Merriam-Webster to Rewrite Definition o...
- Groups Seek to Ban Foie Gras Production in New Yor...
- The Illegal Trade of Animal Parts Goes On: Seven A...
- Test Tube or Lab-Grown Meat Nears Dinner Table: B...
- South Africa's Proposals to Clamp Down On "Canned ...
- Britain Heads Towards Ban of Bearskin Hats Worn By...
- DVD ''Hood Fights, Vol. 2, The Art Of The Pit'', W...
- Children Who Live or Attend School Near Large-Scal...
- Group Asks That Federal Authorities Investigate th...
- Whole Foods and Safeway Suspend the Selling of Liv...
- Who Belongs In The Zoo? It May Be That Some Anima...
- In China, Protest Shuts Down Restaurant Serving Ca...
- Whole Foods Bans Sale of Live Lobsters
- In South Africa, Foreign Jet Set Hunters Kill More...
- Disasters Boost Charitable Giving in US, Including...
- Commercial Whaling May Once Again Continue: Vote a...
- Independent Journalist Asserts Constitutional Righ...
- Activists Confront Beyonce Knowles About Her Love ...
- Secure the Release of a Number of Chimpanzee Elde...
- An In-depth Look at Horse Slaughter: Why Is It Oc...
- Animal Rights Group Holds Los Angeles Mayor Antoni...
- A Nice Summation of How Those Pretty Host Finches,...
- Tropical Storm Alberto Makes Landfall / NOLA Pet E...
- The National Lawyers Guild Condemns FBI’s Operatio...
- The Ugliness and Truth of Horseracing Exposed: Un...
- On Eve of International Whaling Commission Meeting...
- Teen Girls Who Filmed Themselves on MySpace.Com Ki...
- Due to Japan’s Sneaky Tactics, Pro-Whaling Nations...
- The Hain Celestial Group Acquires the Assets of th...
- Group Urges India's Fruit Exporters to Donate Mang...
- Activists Have Been Banned from Demonstrating Wher...
- Actions to Expose Cruelty of Zoos in the Philippin...
- Grocery Chain Safeway Wins Praise for Moving Towar...
- Another Premature and Unnatural Elephant Death in ...
- Editorial: Why it’s A Common Sense Good Move That...
- Playing God: Some Chickens Genetically Engineered ...
- New Study: Some Species of Animals are Already Cha...
- Whale and Dolphin News
- Polo Ralph Lauren Is Eliminating Fur from All of I...
- Exposed: Principal Buyer of Canadian Dead Baby Sea...
- Whores to Business and Hunting the Florida Fish an...
- Ask For Maximum Sentence for Premeditated Dog Killers
- HSUS Has Filed a Notice of Intent to Sue Hudson Va...
- Protesters Have Frustrated an Attempt to Transport...
- Asia/ Film Reveals the Drama of Tibet's Poacher War
- Group Sues Woodland Park Zoo Over Treatment of Ele...
- Hell Freezes Over: Fudan University in China Seek...
- Group Shows Cruelty of Zoos Has No Boarders: Prot...
- Asian Elephants Used In the Ringling Brothers and ...
- Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission Will Decide W...
- In Indian Zoos, Life Can Be Brutal and Short: Visi...
- Thai Government Under Fire For Zoo Trading: Change...
- A Call to Action: University Of Wisconsin-Madison ...
- The Staff of the GEARI Blog Will Re Post in a Few ...
-
▼
June
(70)
No comments:
Post a Comment