United States
Reporter breaks record for longest time in jailPosted Feb 25 2007
California reporter, Josh Wolf, 24, broke the record for the longest jail time a U.S. journalist has served for not handing over source material. Wolf has spent a total of 174 days in jail as of February 12 for refusing to give authorities his video footage of a violent San Francisco protest against the G-8 summit, which was taking place in Scotland at the time, that involved a police car that was burned and an officer who suffered a fractured skull, reports BBC News. Prosecutors successfully argued that federal money helped pay for the police car, which overturned the California laws that protected journalist from revealing sources by making it a federal case. Although Wolf did sell his footage to TV stations, he refused to obey the subpoena that would give the tape to the police. Houston freelance journalist Vanessa Leggett served 168 days in 2001 and 2002 for refusing to reveal information involving murder case.
On the Web: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/6338043.stm