Thank you LDF supporters
As we approach the end of the year, I would like to thank everyone who has supported the Legal Defense Fund this year and over the years. Without your donations to the auction, your purchases at the auction and your overriding support for the First Amendment, the LDF could not do the important work it does.
This year was historic for LDF, the SPJ board gave a $30,000 grant to Josh Wolf, a San Francisco free-lance journalist and blogger who is still in a California prison upholding a principle we stand behind. The $30,000 grant is the largest in the fund's history.
The bad news is that Wolf is not the only journalist facing pressure from the government to reveal sources or produce unpublished work. There is Joe Zemba in Pennsylvania, Sarah Olson in California and two San Francisco Chronicle reporters.
If this year was any indication, next year and future years will be difficult until journalists and the public convince the Congress to pass a federal Shield law. Please continue your support for LDF by making a contribution to the fund or by participating in the auction next October in Washington D.C.
Thank you again for your support of SPJ and the Legal Defense Fund.
Dave Aeikens
LDF Chairman