As some of you may have already read in the last 24 hours, yesterday in New York City, a three-judge panel of the US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit ruled that CRUDE's director Joe Berlinger will be awarded a full hearing in July on his appeal, and as a result, the district court’s May 20th order directing Berlinger to produce the footage will be suspended during the pendency of the appeal. This is truly great news for us, as our fight to protect our footage, sources, and journalistic process trudges on, and we are so happy to be able to share this news with you, our wonderful supporters.
Berlinger’s lead attorney, Maura Wogan of Frankfurt Kurnit, said the decision “signals that the appeals court takes seriously the rights of investigative journalists like Joe Berlinger,” and Berlinger is “delighted that the appellate court seems to understand the significant public interest in our appeal being heard.”
We cannot thank all of you enough for your amazing support over the last few weeks! We are thrilled to announce that we have reached our initial goal of $20k and wanted to extend a personal thanks to the nearly 400 of you who have supported us through this page. BUT, as our legal bills continue to pile up through the duration of this appeal, and our initial goal of $20k is only a small fraction of our total cost, we are continuing to accept donations for this First Amendment Fund through June 30th, 2010 (at midnight Eastern time), and would greatly appreciate your continued help in sharing this link with your families, friends, and communities. We are truly and deeply moved by the support we have received so far and hope you will help us continue to spread the word over the next three weeks.
In addition to your inspiring efforts, we’ve continued to be moved by how this case has made headlines across the country. We’ve received incredible support from the film and journalism communities, including open letters from the IDA,DGA, WGA, and a friend-of-the-court brief from leading First Amendment lawyer Floyd Abrams on behalf of 13 major media companies. As eloquently articulated by many esteemed members of the press and independent film legends—from the editors of The Los Angeles Times to Michael Moore, Bill Moyers, Robert Redford and most recently, Norman Lear—a ruling in favor of Chevron would be a grave violation of Berlinger’s First Amendment rights and will undoubtedly have a chilling effect on documentary filmmakers and journalists worldwide. The stay that was granted today will allow us to argue the merits of our position before the Court, and for that, along with your empowering support, we are truly grateful.
Please keep passing this First Amendment Fund on, and STAY TUNED.
Thank you all!
Very Truly Yours,
-Team CRUDE
Some recent articles on the case include:
-Brent Lang's "Court Grants Stay for 'Crude' Director" (http://www.thewrap.com/
-KCRW Interview w/ Joe Berlinger (http://www.kcrw.com/etc/
-Norman Lear's "Was Oil Named 'Crude' Because of the Way Oil Compaies Do Business?" (http://www.huffingtonpost.
-David Folkenfilk's "A 'Crude' Awakening: Chevron vs. the Documentarian" (http://www.npr.org/templates/
-Robert Redford's "Joe Berlinger vs. Chevron: Why We Must All Defend Independent Filmmaking" (http://www.huffingtonpost.
-Ted Johnson's "New Twist in 'Crude' Suit"
(http://www.variety.com/
-Dave Itzkoff's "Media Companies File Brief on Behalf of Filmmaker in Chevron Case" (http://artsbeat.blogs.
-LA Times Editorial "Chevron Sues Over 'Crude': A Documentary's Unused Footage, Akin to Reporters' Notes, Should be Protected"
(http://www.latimes.com/news/
-Bill Moyers' & Michael Winship's "Chevron's 'Crude' Attempt to Suppress Free Speech"
(http://www.huffingtonpost.
-John Shwartz & Dave Itzkoff's "Should a Documentary Filmmaker Get a Journalist's Privilege?"
(http://www.nytimes.com/2010/
-Dave Itzkoff's "Oscar Winners Back Filmmaker in Dispute With Chevron"
(http://artsbeat.blogs.
*For more articles on the case, please visit http://www.crudethemovie.com/
