Video-Blogger & Journalist Forced Back to Federal Prison Today
By Matt Pascarella
Only nineteen days after being released from the Federal Correction Institution in Dublin, California, video blogger and journalist Josh Wolf was forced to report back to prison this morning.
Wolf, subpoenaed by a grand jury earlier this year, refused to provide that jury with a video he shot while covering an anti-G8 demonstration that occurred in San Francisco on July 8, 2005.
On behalf of the federal government, Assistant Attorney General Jeffrey Finnigan filed the motion to revoke Wolf's bail last Thursday, September 14th.
According to the motion, the government's argument to confine Wolf even after the court granted him bail was, "that whenever a witness refuses 'without just cause' to comply with a court order 'to testify or provide other information,' the district court may 'summarily order his confinement' until 'such time as the witness is willing to give such testimony or provide such information'."
The motion was filed under the premise that the grand jury Wolf refuses to provide video to is still in session. In this argument the Assistant Attorney General notes, "The clock is ticking on this grand jury's term of service and thus the coercive intent behind the recalcitrant witness statue is lessened with each passing day."
Three days after this motion was filed, I met with Josh in New York, below is the video of that interview.
At that time he did not know that only two days later, today, he would be forced to return to federal prison.
For the full background on the story, in Josh's own words, see the lo-res video rushes - via youtube - from the interview.
It's in 3 parts:
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
A higher-res quicktime file will be posted shortly. In the mean time click here for a lo-res QT
Matt Pascarella is a freelance journalist and award-winning producer for Investigative Journalist Greg Palast -- www.GregPalast.com
Only nineteen days after being released from the Federal Correction Institution in Dublin, California, video blogger and journalist Josh Wolf was forced to report back to prison this morning.
Wolf, subpoenaed by a grand jury earlier this year, refused to provide that jury with a video he shot while covering an anti-G8 demonstration that occurred in San Francisco on July 8, 2005.
On behalf of the federal government, Assistant Attorney General Jeffrey Finnigan filed the motion to revoke Wolf's bail last Thursday, September 14th.
According to the motion, the government's argument to confine Wolf even after the court granted him bail was, "that whenever a witness refuses 'without just cause' to comply with a court order 'to testify or provide other information,' the district court may 'summarily order his confinement' until 'such time as the witness is willing to give such testimony or provide such information'."
The motion was filed under the premise that the grand jury Wolf refuses to provide video to is still in session. In this argument the Assistant Attorney General notes, "The clock is ticking on this grand jury's term of service and thus the coercive intent behind the recalcitrant witness statue is lessened with each passing day."
Three days after this motion was filed, I met with Josh in New York, below is the video of that interview.
At that time he did not know that only two days later, today, he would be forced to return to federal prison.
For the full background on the story, in Josh's own words, see the lo-res video rushes - via youtube - from the interview.
It's in 3 parts:
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
A higher-res quicktime file will be posted shortly. In the mean time click here for a lo-res QT
Matt Pascarella is a freelance journalist and award-winning producer for Investigative Journalist Greg Palast -- www.GregPalast.com
posted by mattpascarella at 5:54 AM
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