Vanessa Leggett

Vanessa Leggett, 34, a freelance writer gained national and international attention in the summer of 2001 when spent 168 days in jail for refusing to testify before a federal grand jury and turn over her research materials for a book she is writing.

Leggett refused to compromise her principles and her belief in the First Amendment rights and was ordered to jail for contempt of court. She was released on Jan. 4. 2002 when the grand jury before which she refused to testify was adjourned. Her time spent in jail is more than three and one half times as long as any other journalist who refused to divulge information to a jury.

Although Leggett is free at this time, her case has not been resolved. She has asked the U.S. Supreme Court to review the July 20, 2001 contempt order that was upheld by the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans on Aug. 17, 2001.

Leggett holds a masters degree in liberal arts and a bachelor of English degree from the University of St. Thomas in Houston where she graduated with honors. Part of her graduate work included studies in psychology and personality profiling at Edge Hill College in Lancashire, England, and human evil at St. Mary’s Seminary in Houston.

In addition to working on her book, Leggett is an instructor at the University of Houston-Downtown and has lectured as an adjunct in the College of Humanities and Social Sciences for the Department of English, Professional Writing Division, Department of Criminal Justice and the Criminal Justice Center for training where she is a senior adjunct instructor.

She lives with her husband in Houston.