At several of the anti-war protests that swept over downtown San Francisco the days leading up to and after the war with Iraq began, serveral professional and student journalsits were detained by police. The Bay Gaurdian published a story about how two of its journalists were arrested. Although four SF State student journalists were arrested at the protests, no story ran.

A recent SF Chronicle story, however, sheds lights on the critical issue. Student journalists are not treated legally, the same as professional journalists. These student journalists will now face the same charges as protesters despite the fact that they were only excersizing the freedom of the press, a right guaranteed by the first ammendment.

One student, a photographer shooting for the Golden Gate [X]press magazine was arrested even though he had a valid SF State press pass. He went to court and was told the charges against him would be dropped. But he recently received a letter stating that he still faced the charges.

Some students are considering fighting the charges.