MASSACHUSETTS — Student journalists covering the Democratic National Convention in Boston next week will be only a phone call away from free legal advice.
The Reporters Committee for the Freedom of the Press has set up a hotline for credentialed journalists — including students — to call 24 hours a day for answers to legal questions, such as what a journalist should do if he or she is detained or arrested while covering the convention or related protests. The Reporters Committee is a Virginia-based nonprofit group that gives free legal advice and research assistance to members of the nonstudent media and their lawyers.
Attorneys with the Boston law firm Prince, Lobel, Glovsky & Tye LLP have volunteered to staff the hotline throughout the convention July 26-29.
The hotline number is (888) 428-7490. The Reporters Committee has produced a flier that outlines procedures for resolving problems arising from detention or arrest. It can be accessed from the Reporters Committee Web site at http://www.rcfp.org/news/documents/dnc2004.pdf
View the Reporters Committee flier.Download Adobe Acrobat Reader to view document.