Free Speech Contempt Count Appealed
The station manager of listener-sponsored radio station KPFK-FM in Los Angeles has been released from prison, pending appeal.
Will Lewis was jailed on June 19 after US District Court Judge A. Andrew Hauk ruled him in contempt of court for refusing to turn over to police, originals of communiqués from the Symbionese Liberation Army and the Weather Underground, as well as refusing to answer grand jury questions on the matter.
Lewis' release came when US Supreme Court Justice William O. Douglas, who has jurisdiction over California, ruled on July 4 that Lewis is "a newsman with all First Amendment protections." Douglas, who cannot have the charges against Lewis dropped himself, issued "an order releasing him on his own personal recognizance pending decision of his appeal."
The SLA tape in question was received by KPFK on June 7, and contained statements by Emily and William Harris as well as Patricia Hearst. The communiqué from the Weather Underground claimed responsibility for the May 31 bombing of the offices of the California Attorney General and was in response to the shoot-out in which six SLA members were killed by 500 city, state and federal police.
Lewis gave copies of the tape and letter to the FBI but refused to yield the originals, saying it would endanger the radio station's credibility with news sources. Investigators want to check the originals for fingerprints.
The KPFK decision not to hand over originals to police investigators had the full support of the Pacifica Foundation, the non-profit corporation that owns KPFK and three other listener-sponsored radio stations around the country. "It's the policy of the Pacifica Foundation not to do anything that will inhibit the free flow of information," Lewis explained at the time of his arrest.
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