Friday, August 18, 2006
CFAC RESOLUTION
CFAC resolution on protection of journalists’ confidential sources and independence
WHEREAS the United States of America was founded on the principles of free
speech, free press and due process of law; and it’s the role and obligation
of the courts and government to uphold these principles at all times; and
WHEREAS rather than upholding these values, a federal district court in San
Francisco has jailed freelance filmmaker Josh Wolf since Aug. 1 for
refusing to honor a grand jury subpoena for the “out-takes” of his filming
of a San Francisco street demonstration; and
WHEREAS California has a shield law that protects journalists from being
required to hand over unpublished material or disclose confidential sources
to prosecutors; and whereas prosecutors in the Wolf case have tried to
sidestep this law by seeking prosecution in federal court on the hollow
argument that a police car that was burned during the San Francisco
demonstration was paid for with federal funds; and
WHEREAS San Francisco Chronicle reporters Mark Fainaru-Wada and Lance
Williams this week were similarly threatened by a San Francisco federal
court judge with jail time if they don’t reveal their sources of grand jury
testimony by Barry Bonds and other athletes concerning the use of steroids
and other performance-enhancing drugs in professional sports; and
WHEREAS jailing reporters and employing other means to force them to reveal
confidential sources or hand over unpublished material stifles the free
flow of information, muzzles whistleblowing and has a chilling effect on
the ability of reporters to exercise their constitutionally protected
responsibilities to educate the public.
NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the Board of Directors of the California
First Amendment Coalition opposes these unrestrained attacks on a free
press and calls upon U.S. District Court Judge Alsup to lift his contempt
order and free Josh Wolf from jail; and demands that the U.S. Department of
Justice drop its indefensible and senseless campaign to punish Wolf via the
federal court system; and
LET IT BE FURTHER RESOLVED that the CFAC Board of Directors likewise calls
upon U.S. District Court Judge Jeffrey White to lift his order compelling
Fainaru-Wada and Williams to disclose their confidential sources and urges
federal prosecutors to drop this persecution of two journalists who, by
their work, have greatly expanded public awareness of the role of
performance-enhancing drugs in professional sports, and
LET IT BE FURTHER RESOLVED that the CFAC board once again urges Congress to
approve a federal shield law that will protect the confidentiality of
journalists’ sources, encourage exposure of government wrongdoing via
anonymous whistleblowers; protect the free flow of information and prevent
the very kind of confrontations on display in San Francisco in which
journalists are being placed behind bars for simply exercising the freedoms
spelled out by the framers of our Constitution.
--August 16, 2006
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