Roger Shuler, Only Jailed U.S. Journalist Per CPJ Census, Receives Coverage at Al Jazeera America

This is Carol, Roger's wife. As reported here in recent days, Legal Schnauzer publisher Roger Shulermade the list of jailed journalists compiled by the Committee to Protect Journalists. Per the CPJ's article, "CPJ’s list is a snapshot of those incarcerated at 12:01 a.m. on December 1, 2013. It does not include the many journalists imprisoned and released throughout the year; accounts of those cases can be found at www.cpj.org. Journalists remain on CPJ’s list until the organization determines with reasonable certainty that they have been released or have died in custody." Here is a link to the CPJ list: CPJ 2013 Prison Census. 

In a census that is normally about jailed journalists in oppressive countries such as Turkey, Iran and China, the unlawful detention of American journalist Roger Shuler in the U.S. is truly a disgrace to our country and shows just have far we have sunk as a nation. Imprisoned for speaking out about corruption in America and Alabama at the highest levels, Shuler is making worldwide news in a variety of media venues because it is so uncommon for an American to make this list. Per the CPJ, Shuler is the only journalist unlawfully jailed in the Americas on a list of 211 journalists from around the globe.This disturbing news of a jailed U.S. journalist on the CPJ census received coverage at Al Jazeera America in an article published on their website Dec. 18. The article states:

"Only one journalist was behind bars in the Americas as a direct result of their work. Roger Shuler, an independent blogger who writes about alleged Republican corruption in Alabama, was being held on contempt of court for refusing to comply with an injunction regarding content ruled defamatory, the CPJ said. In recent years, journalist jailings in the Americas have become increasingly rare, with one Cuban documented in prison in 2012 and none throughout the region in 2011."

Here is the link to the Al Jazeera America article:  Turkey Again Jails Most Journalists, Annual Index Finds.