Writer Needs Help: Legal Defense Fund

Bruce Mirken, a well-known reporter who focuses on gay/lesbian youth issues and HIV/AIDS, and writes for AIDS Treatment News, was arrested last July while investigating a story of a troubled gay teenager. After corresponding online, they agreed to meet in a Sacramento park. In fact there was no teenager; the messages were from the Sacramento Police Department's sting to catch online pedophiles. When Mirken went to interview the youth, he was arrested for felony "attempted lewd acts" with the nonexistent minor. Mirken has vehemently denied the charges, calling them "absolutely, totally false." (For more information, see "Journalist Cyberstung" by Andy Hsiao, Village Voice, October 6, 1998, currently available at http://www.villagevoice.com, search for 'Mirken'.)

Although a judge called it an "extremely close" decision whether the case should even go to trial, Mirken has already spent $30,000 on bail and legal expenses, and more will be needed if the trial takes place. Contributions (which are not tax deductible) can be made to: Bruce Mirken Legal Defense Fund, P.O. Box 14954, San Francisco, CA 94114.