Return to Transcripts main page

American Morning

Representative Jackson Visits Vanessa Leggett

Aired August 15, 2001 - 10:31   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: An appeals court in Texas today plans to hear the case of a jailed writer. Vanessa Leggett has spent a month behind bars in a First Amendment case that is drawing national attention. We get more now on that story from our affiliate station KPRC in Houston.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KIM ALVARADO, KPRC REPORTER: The federal detention center's tiniest inmate gets a visit from a powerful congresswoman, Sheila Jackson-Lee. But Jackson-Lee has no interest in the material the jailed journalist is writing about, the 1997 murder of Doris Angleton.

REP. SHEILA JACKSON-LEE (D), TEXAS: I believe that the First Amendment should be unfettered.

ALVARADO: Jackson-Lee says Vanessa Leggett should not be forced to turn over her book research and link the interviews, including several with murder defendant, Roger Angleton. Roger committed suicide before his capital murder trial that ultimately acquitted his brother, Robert. Leggett's refusal to comply with a federal grand jury's order has landed her in jail, while feds question the unpublished writer's journalism credentials.

VANESSA LEGGETT, JAILED JOURNALIST: I'm not seeking to qualify, you know, as being recognized as a journalist. I'm seeking to be recognized that I have gathered information to disseminate to the public on a newsworthy event.

ALVARADO: Leggett's attorney believes the government is quashing her freedom of speech and only making excuses that she's not a mainstream journalist.

MIKE DEGEURIN, LEGGETT'S ATTORNEY: When does a painter become a painter? When they first stroke the canvas or when they finish the painting?

ALVARADO: The congresswoman has asked U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft to review Leggett's case per Justice Department rules that require special oversight for jailed journalists.

(on camera): On Wednesday, the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals will rule on Vanessa Leggett's case. If she doesn't win there or remains in federal detention, she plans to appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court.

I'm Kim Alvarado, News 2, Houston.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com