Alabama Journalist Tells Us What It Was Like To Spend Five Months In Jail For Reporting A Story

“You get down to survival mode.” That was blogger Roger Shuler’s state of mind after being arrested and hauled off to jail for writing about a politically connected Alabama lawyer.

“Once you’re arrested I mean there’s not much you can do,” he told ThinkProgress in a conversation after his release, explaining that he felt powerless to handle the legal defense of his case. “Your hands are tied literally and figuratively and just to try to figure out how to get out was almost impossible … I really was afraid for my life at times.”

Until last week, Shuler was the only known journalist in the Western Hemisphere jailed for doing his job. Shuler, a former sports reporter and university editor who developed the political blog Legal Schnauzer, is known as a controversial figure in his community. He has fielded other allegations of falsehoods and has been embroiled in numerous lawsuits over his blogging. But even his critics conceded that a court order banning him from writing anything about the alleged extramarital affair of a man rumored to be running for Congress was likely unconstitutional, and a First Amendment outrage.

First, a Shelby County judge ruled that Shuler could not continue writing about the alleged affair of Robert Riley, Jr., the son of former Gov. Bob Riley rumored to be running for Congress. Then, when Shuler refused to comply with the order, police came to his home one evening and arrested him for contempt of court.

http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2014/04/07/3423257/meet-the-alabam...

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Permalink Reply by Leigh James on April 19, 2014 at 7:58pm

The most tragic part of this story is that he is the only known journalist in the Western Hemisphere jailed for doing his job.

There no longer exist men and women in America who possess the quality of character needed to stand nor the courage to refuse to submit under their government and her press, even if certain refusal will only be met with force and a cage.

This pitiful example of the state of destruction our nation is in it nothing compared to the state of decay in the quality of character and loss of ethical values in it's citizens. Moral decay will destroy this nation, not the evil men controlling it.

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Permalink Reply by Not mainstreamer on April 19, 2014 at 9:32pm

There no longer exist men and women in America who possess the quality of character needed to stand nor the courage to refuse to submit under their government and her press,

:-O

There exists men and women in America who possess the quality of character needed to stand and have the courage to refuse to submit under their government and her press. The list of whistleblowers is long, the list of very political bloggers is long, and the list of killed scientists is long.

Moral decay will destroy this nation, not the evil men controlling it.

On the level of: It was not the evilness of the slave-drivers who killed so many Jews in WWII, but their own lack of integrity

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Permalink Reply by Leigh James on April 20, 2014 at 11:48pm

If you still hold the belief that six million "Jews" were killed during WWII than I'm afraid you have yet to even begin learning the truth of who has destroyed this nation. The mind that has yet been freed from the programming inflicted upon it lacks even the ability to imagine the truth, let alone discover it. I encourage you to research the account you were given about WWII in great detail, and you yourself will find the lie.

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Permalink Reply by Russ Jensen on April 21, 2014 at 3:29am

I am one who possesses the quality of character needed to stand and have the courage to refuse to submit under their government.

Will you come help me Stand Up and Stand Firm? We can take back control of our Societies through the Rule of Law.

The problem is that most do not know what the True Rule of Law and source of Authority is here on this Planet.

These are links to my feeble attempts to share and teach these basic but powerful concepts, truths and practical, real world applications in which to use the information to begin to take back control of Governance and the Public Authorities by Impeaching the Office and then attaching Liability to the real man-the Elected Official or the Government worker.

I welcome all feedback, comments and critiques-Don't hold back-Honesty and Truth are the path to a New Day for Planet Earth

http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLgbc3_0CjBG4RKaAmVsoKdAW2A7Xl...

https://vimeo.com/fuckushimaed/channels