LIBEL AND RELATED LAWSUITS AGAINST BLOGGERS
Compiled by MLRC Staff Attorney Eric P. Robinson
Last Update: August
10, 2006
This
list, which is an outgrowth of the Pre-Dinner Symposium on Blogging
held on Nov. 9, 2005, includes legal cases that MLRC is aware of in which bloggers have been sued for libel and related claims,
including two cases against bloggers that
have gone to trial and resulted in a liability verdict. It also
includes criminal cases against bloggers in
Ohio.
Note that this list includes only cases that were actually
filed in a United States
court; threats to file lawsuits are not included. This list does not
include lawsuits outside of the United
States.
The list
is also limited to cases based on the content of blogs,
which leads to the question, what is a blog? While
various commentators have different answers, for our purposes a blog is a web site that is created by and features periodic
postings (comments, links, etc.) by an individual or a small group of
contributors, usually on a specific topic or theme. Blogs
differ from forums, which are generally maintained by an operator who generally
does not regularly contribute material to the site, but maintains and edits a
forum that is open to postings from anyone. (If the person or people contributing
material is also the editor(s), it is more likely a blog
than a forum. For more on this distinction, see wikipedia.)
The timing of updates can vary, but must not be so infrequent that the site is
more properly classified as a static web site. Admittedly, this
definition leads to a sort of “you know it when you see it” quality. But
given the shifting nature of the web technology and its uses, this is simply
the best we’ve been able to come up with for now.
Cases are
listed by forum jurisdiction.
Other
sources:
California: Apple
Computer, Inc. v. DePlume, No. 05-CV-33341 (Cal. Super. Santa Clara
County filed Jan. 4, 2005)
Status: Pending
In addition to the Doe case below, Apple is also pursuing a separate
lawsuit in California against the 19-year-old operator of the Boston-based
website "Think Secret" (www.thinksecret.com)
and various anonymous entities for allegedly publishing trade secrets on that
website.
http://www.wired.com/news/mac/0,2125,66213,00.html
http://www.zeropaid.com/news/4970/Teen+Sued+For+Disclosing+Apple's+Secrets
Case docket: http://www.sccaseinfo.org/pa5.asp?full_case_number=1-05-CV-033341
California: Apple Computer, Inc. v. Doe , No. 1-04-CV-032178 (Cal. Super. Mar. 11,
2005), appeal pending sub. nom. O'Grady, et al. v. Superior Court of Santa Clara
County , Case
No. H028579 (Cal.
App. 6th Dist. May 26, 2006).
Status: Dismissed
In Dec. 2004, Apple
Computer, Inc., filed suit against numerous unknown entities in connection with
the leak of confidential information prior to the release of an Apple product
codenamed "Asteroid." The information, which Apple claims are
trade secrets, was posted on a number of websites, including AppleInsider (www.appleinsider.com) and PowerPage
(www.powerpage.org).
In the course of discovery, Apple subpoenaed Nfox,
the e-mail service provider for PowerPage, seeking
e-mail messages that could identify the source(s) of the leaked information.
The trial court ruled that Apple is entitled to subpoena an e-mail provider to
try and identify the source(s), but declined to determine whether the bloggers qualified as journalists under the California shield
law. But the Court of Appeals reversed, holding that bloggers
and webmasters have the same protections against divulging confidential sources
as tradional media. In July 2006, Apple
announced hat it would not appeal the ruling.
http://www.eff.org/Censorship/Apple_v_Does/
Cal. App. decision at http://www.courtinfo.ca.gov/opinions/documents/H028579.PDF
California: Cohen v. Ford, No. 00-CV-5966
(C.D. Cal. dismissed Feb. 21, 2001)
Status: Dropped
In 1998, Gary Kremen sued Stephen Michael Cohen,
alleging that he had fraudulently obtained the sex.com domain name owned by Kremen by forging a letter to Network Solutions in 1995,
asking for transfer of ownership of the URL. (That suit eventually ended
with a $65 million award to Kremen, and restoration
of control of the domain, although the judgment has not been collected.)
While that case was pending, in 2000 Cohen sued Luke Ford over coverage of the
sex.com lawsuit on his lukeford.com
porn-industry blog. But the case was dropped by
the plaintiff in 2001.
California: Holmes v.
Ford, No. BC221609 (Cal. Super. defense motion for summary
judgment granted Oct. 31, 2000).
Status: Summary Judgment Granted
Porn actress Laurie
Holmes, the widow of porn actor John Holmes, sued webmaster Luke Ford over
comments posted on his lukeford.com
porn-industry blog in 1999. The comments were
statements made by John Holmes’ manager, Bill Amerson,
in a film documentary entitled "Wadd: The Life
and Times of John Holmes." In October 2000, the court granted Luke’s
motion for summary judgment, and awarded him costs.
Case noted in http://www.wired.com/news/culture/0,1284,39297,00.html
California: Lake v. Ford, No.
SC059805 (Cal. Super. dismissed Jan. 18, 2001).
Status: Dismissed
Porn actress Christy Lake sued porn-industry blog lukeford.com
owner Luke Ford after he posted pictures that he described as showing her
having sex with a dog. The case was eventually dismissed.
Case noted in http://www.wired.com/news/culture/0,1284,39297,00.html
California: News America,
Inc. v. Google, Inc., No. 05-MC-80179 (N.D. Cal. filed Aug. 4, 2005).
Status: No Recent Action
News Corp. subsidiary News America,
publisher of the New York Post, subpoenaed Google to try to find the identity
of a blogger who was posting the Post’s "Page
6" daily gossip column in total, except for the advertising. There
has been no further action in the case, although the site (http://page6blog.blogspot.com/)
has been removed.
http://www.adrants.com/2005/06/adfree-gawker-and-page-six-blogs.php
NY Post letter to Google: http://www.chillingeffects.org/dmca512/notice.cgi?NoticeID=2121
California: The
Permanente Medical Group, Inc. v. Cooper, No. RG05-203029.(Cal. Super. filed 2005).
Status: No Recent Action
In July 2004, Elisa D. Cooper discovered that internal, technical computer
information available on a public web site maintained for computer maintenance
purposes by her former employer, Kaiser Health Plan, included patient
information. She posted a link to the data on her blog,
Corporate Ethics (http://www.livejournal.com/users/corphq/), and later
posted the information itself. She also filed a complaint with the
federal Office of Civil Rights, which enforces the Health Insurance Portability
and Accountability Act (HIPAA). That office, in turn, notified Kaiser,
which sought and eventually received a preliminary injunction against Cooper’s
posting of the material, arguing that her dissemination of it violated the
confidentiality agreement that Cooper signed while working for the
company. The California Department of Managed Health Care then ordered
Cooper to remove the material -- its first action against an individual, rather
than a health plan, since the agency’s founding in 2000. The agency also fined
Kaiser $200,000 for posting the patient data to a publicly-accessible site.
http://www.blogherald.com/2005/03/18/kaiser-permanente-sues-blogger-over-patient-information/
California: Wald v. Ford,
No. SC086263 (Cal. Super., L.A. County filed May 19, 2005)
Status: Default verdict for plaintiff;
motion to set aside default pending
Jeff Ward, who
manages the careers of various entertainers including George Carlin, George
Forman and Donna Summer, sued owner Luke Ford and various unnamed contributors
to the lukeford.net
porn-industry blog for allegedly libelous comments
about Ward on the site. Ford did not respond to the suit, and was held in
default on Oct. 10, 2005. Ford has since filed a motion to set aside the
default judgment, which was scheduled to be heard on March 22, 2006.
Case documents (including complaint, motion to set aside default): http://www.lukeford.net/Images/photos3/WaldFord.doc
Connecticut: Bell v. Shah, Civil No. 05-0671 (D. Conn. filed April
27, 2005).
Status: Transferred to S.D. Fla. (March 31, 2006). Bell v. Shah, Civil No. 06-21063 (transferred April 28, 2006).
Plaintiff Joel Bell,
who serves as a manager for several professional sports players, sued a writer
for the the website draftcity.com (which
closed when the legal action was threatened) for items on the
site disparaging Bell.
Ruling on a motion to dismiss, the federal court in Connecticut
held that it lacked personal jurisdiction over the defendant, a Florida resident, even though the website was set up and
registered by a one-time Connecticut
resident. The federal court in Connecticut
moved the case to the federal court in southern Florida, where it is currently pending.
http://www.realgm.com/boards/viewtopic.php?t=379483&view=next&sid=e9b32f008e98909a27989cb35a3f1f98
Delaware: Doe v. Cahill, No. 266, 2005,
2005 WL 2455266, 2005 Del. LEXIS 381 (Del. decided Oct. 6, 2005)
Status: Dismissed
The Delaware Supreme Court on Oct. 6 reversed a lower court's decision ordering
an ISP to reveal the identity of anonymous posters to a blog
operated by the Delaware State News (http://www.newszapforums.com/forum47). Smyrna, Del. town
councilman Patrick Cahill and his wife are suing the posters and the newspaper
for libel over the posted comments.
The court held that in order to obtain the identities, Cahill had to meet the
standard applied for summary judgment, and had to present sufficient evidence
to establish a prima facie case for each essential element of libel. It
then ruled that the plaintiffs had not met the burden in this case, and thus
reversed the lower court's ruling. After a discussion of the nature and
reliability of blog postings, the court also
dismissed the libel claims, since the statements "were no more than
unfounded and unconvincing opinion."
http://www.firstamendmentcenter.org/%5Cnews.aspx?id=15890
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/10/06/technology/06blog.html
Decision: http://courts.delaware.gov/opinions/(ck3ywyzv4ghputn02pdfiy34)/download.aspx?ID=67130
District
of Columbia: Steinbach
v. Cutler,
Civil No. 05-00970 (D.D.C. filed May 16, 2005).
Status: Motion to
dismiss denied (April 4, 2006).
In May 2004, Captial Hill aide Jessica Culter published a pseudonymous blog (http://washingtonienne.blogspot.com;
no longer existent, but archived at http://washingtoniennearchive.blogspot.com/)
detailing her sexual escapades,
identifying several men only by their initials. Cutler's blog became a widespread story after it was publicizied on another blog, wonkette.com, and Cutler was
fired. Robert Steinbach filed suit on May 18, 2005, saying that he was
one of the men whose initials were given in the blog,
but that other identifying information was included. Ruling on a motion
to dismiss, the court held that the one-year statute of limitations on in the District of Columbia
applied, and that this barred claims for all but one of the blog
postings.
http://www.calicocat.com/jessica_cutler_washingtonienne.htm
http://www.wonkette.com/politics/robert-steinbuch/index.php
Complaint at http://files.findlaw.com/news.findlaw.com/hdocs/docs/torts/steinbuchvcutler51805cmp.pdf
Florida: Bell v. Shah, Civil No. 06-21063 (transferred from D. Conn. April 28, 2006).
Status: Pending
Plaintiff Joel Bell, who serves as a manager for several professional
sports players, sued a writer for the the website draftcity.com (which
closed when the legal action was threatened) for items on the
site disparaging Bell.
Ruling on a motion to dismiss, the federal court in Connecticut held that it
lacked personal jurisdiction over the defendant, a Florida resident, even
though the website was set up and registered by a one-time Connecticut
resident. The federal court in Connecticut moved the case to the federal
court in southern Florida, where it is currently pending.
http://www.realgm.com/boards/viewtopic.php?t=379483&view=next&sid=e9b32f008e98909a27989cb35a3f1f98
Florida: Hunt v. Patten, No. 2006 CA 002857 SC (Fla.
Cir. Ct., Sarasota County filed March 29, 2006).
Status: Pending.
Former Venice, Fla.
city manager sued veniceflorida.com writer John Patten, alleging
that Patten helped spread lies about him that led him to be fired from
the Venice, Fla. position and have kept him from getting a similar job
elsewhere.
http://www.venicegondolier.com/NewsArchive3/033106/tp1vn6.htm
Florida: Johnson v. Tucker Max, No 2003 CA 004867 (Fla. Cir. Ct.
filed May 2, 2003); Civil No. 03-80515 (S.D. Fla. dismissed July 2003).
Status: Dimissed
by plaintiff
Plaintiff, formerly
Miss Vermont and Miss Vermont U.S.A., sued over postings on the tuckermax.com blog in which the author recounted his alleged sexual
exploits with her. Initially, a Florida state court judge issued a temporary injunction against
continued availability of the postings. After the injunction was lifted,
the case was removed to federal court . The plaintiff then voluntarily
dismissed the case.
http://www.tuckermax.com/archives/entries/the_almost_banned_miss_vermont_story.phtml
http://maroon.uchicago.edu/news/articles/2003/05/16/college_graduate_tuc.php
Initial complaint: http://www.tuckermax.com/images/Complaint%20for%20Injunctive%20Relief%20and%20Damages.PDF
Florida: Lexington Homes, Inc. v. Siskind, No. 2004-CA01018 (Fla. Cir. Ct.,
Pinellas/Pasco County dismissed March 2006).
Status: Dismissed; motion for reconsideration pending.
A housing developer sued the creator a web site (www.bad-lexingtonhomesinc.net)
that criticized the quality of its homes, saying that it led to decreased
sales. The court granted the defendant’s motion to dismiss on
jurisdictional grounds, since the defendants are not Florida residents (they
live in New York, but own property in Florida). The company has filed a
motion asking the court to reconsider its decision.
http://www.legaline.com/2006/03/florida-court-dismisses-web-defamation.html
http://www.sptimes.com/2004/05/01/Hernando/Builder_sues_man_for_.shtml
Legal documents and rulings at http://www.bad-lexingtonhomesinc.net/pages/5/index.htm
Georgia: Banks v. Milum, No. _____ (Ga. Super. Ct. verdict for plaintiff Jan. 27, 2006)
Status: $50,000 verdict for plaintiff
NOTE: This is the first case against a blogger of which MLRC is aware that has gone to trial and
resulted in a liability verdict.
Attorney Rafe Banks III sued political activist David
Milum for statements made on his website on local
politics in Forsyth County, Georgia, aboutforsyth.com. Several postings on the site
alleged that Banks had delivered bribes from drug dealers to a now-deceased
judge. After a four-day trial and six hours of deliberation, the jury awarded
Banks $50,000 in compensatory damages, but no punitive damages. Banks had
sought between $400,000 and $2 million in damages. After the verdict, Milum said that someone else was taking over the web
site. He also said that he may appeal.
http://www.forsythnews.com/news/stories/20060129/localnews/61856.shtml
Georgia: Goodens
v. Milum, No. _____ (Ga. Super. Ct. filed March 2005)
Status: Pending
David Milum is also being sued by former county
employee Joseph Gooden for other comments on the aboutforsyth.com web
site. The case, which seeks $2 million in damages, is pending.
Georgia: Fisher & Phillips, LLP v.
Doe, Civil No. 05-01719 (N.D. Ga. dismissed Nov. 10, 2005)
Status: Dismissed
Atlanta-based employment law firm Fisher & Phillips LLP sued five
"John Does," claiming they published "false and malicious
communications" about the firm on the Internet. (The complaint did not
identify the web sites at issue.) The firm agreed to dismissal of the
case after the court cited it for failure to effectuate service of process.
http://www.bizjournals.com/atlanta/stories/2005/07/18/newscolumn2.html?from_rss=1
Illinois: Emmanuel Welch v. Nyberg,
No. 2005L009751 (Ill. Cir. Ct. dismissed Dec. 5, 2005); Bill Welch v. Nyberg, No. 2005L009752 (Ill. Cir. Ct. dismissed
Dec. 5, 2005).
Status: Dismissed
Emanuel “Chris” Welch, president of the District 209 (Proviso Township High
Schools) school board, and his brother Bill Welch filed suit against blogger Carl Nyberg after Nyberg filed an ethics complaint
against Emanuel Welch over his vote in Aug. 2005 to hire Bill Welch as a school
custodian. Besides being his brother, Emanuel Welch represented Bill
Welch when he was indicted on drug possession charges in 2003 (the charges were
eventually dropped). The ethics complaint alleges that Emanuel Welch did
not disclose this representation when voting on his brother's employment.
The Welches responded with a libel suit based on
postings on Nyberg’s blog (provisoprobe.blogspot.com)
about the ethics complaint and the drug charges, as well as a letter that
Nyberg sent to the head of Emanuel Welch’s law firm. In Late November,
the court granted plaintiffs’ motion to dismiss the case without
prejudice.
http://forestparkreview.com/main.asp?SectionID=1&SubSectionID=38&ArticleID=631&TM=63543.2
http://provisoprobe.blogspot.com/2005/09/welch-brothers-file-suit-against.html
http://provisoprobe.blogspot.com/2005/12/defam-welch-suits-dismissed-without.html
http://forestparkreview.com/main.asp?SectionID=1&SubSectionID=38&ArticleID=839&TM=3636.928
Maine: The Gentle Wind Project v.
Garvey, Civil No. 04-103 (D. Me. summary judgment granted, case
dismissed Jan. 3, 2006).
Status: Dismissed
The Gentle Wind
Project, which describes itself as “not-for-profit world healing organization
with a remarkable healing technology,” sued critics who called the organization
a cult for libel and other claims, including alleged violations of the federal
Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (“RICO”) law. On a motion
by the defendants, the federal district court granted summary judgment on the
RICO claim. Since this claim was the only basis for federal jurisdiction,
the court then dismissed the entire case. But it could be refiled in state court.
mentioned in http://www.law.com/jsp/article.jsp?id=1136838328818
Maine: Warren Kremer Paino
Advertising v. Dutson, Civil No. 06-047 (D.Me. dismissed May 5, 2006).
Status: Dismissed
An advertising agency responsible for online advertising for Maine tourism
sued the Maine Web Report blog (http://www.mainewebreport.com),
which criticized the ads and the selection of the agency,
for defamation, libel, and copyright infringement. The agency
dropped the suit after it was criticized on various blogs.
http://www.mainewebreport.com/2006/04/27/state-contractor-files-federal-lawsuit-against-me/
http://www.mainewebreport.com/2006/05/05/warren-kremer-paino-withdraws-lawsuit/
Complaint available at http://www.mainewebreport.com/Complaint.pdf
Minnesota: Olson v. Brodkorb, No. ______ (Minn. Dist. Ct., Dakota County
filed Jan. 4, 2005).
Status: Pending
Democratic public
relations consultant Blois Olson has sued Republican operative Michael Broadkorb, the blogger behind the
site Minnesota Democrats Exposed (www.minnesotademocratsexposed.com),
for libel. The suit stems from a report in late December posted on the blog by Broadkorb, who published
the blog anonymously from July 2004 until he revealed
his name when the lawsuit was filed. The post claimed that while Olson
publicly criticized the Congressional campaign of Coleen Rowley in several news
stories, Olsen did not reveal that the campaign had declined to hire his
consulting firm.
http://www.firstamendmentcenter.org/news.aspx?id=16262
Mississippi: Moore v. O'Bannon, No. _____ (Miss. Cir. Ct.
filed March 2006).
Status: Pending
Jackson, Miss. minister Rev. Ronald K. Moore and his wife are suing Valerie
O'Bannon, a Jackson native now living in Minnesota, over a web site she
launched in January 2006 which claims that she and Moore had a five-month
affair. In February, Moore won an order from a Mississippi Chancery Court
judge ordering O'Bannon to take down the site, and tried to have her jailed for
contempt when she did not remove the site. But the Chancery judge held
that the matter belonged in Circuit Court, and Moore filed suit in that court
shortly thereafter.
http://www.clarionledger.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060328/NEWS/603280383/1002/NEWS01
Nevada: Software Development and
Investment of Nevada, d/b/a Traffic-Power.com v. Wall, Civil N.
05-1109 (D. Nev. dismissed Feb. 13, 2006).
Status: Dismissed
In this case, an Internet marketing company sued the owner of a blog on search engine optimization (www.seobook.com) for
libel and publication of trade secrets. The suit, which also names several
posters to the blog as defendants, was removed from
state to federal court, then dismissed for lack of personal jurisdiction.
Grant of motion to dismiss: http://www.seobook.com/decision-on-motions.pdf
Complaint and commentary from plaintiff: http://www.seobook.com/archives/001130.shtml
http://online.wsj.com/public/article/0,,SB112541909221726743-Kl4kLxv0wSbjqrkXg_DieY3c8lg_20050930,00.html
http://www.redherring.com/Article.aspx?a=13715&hed=Bloggers+Face+the+Law
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/05277/582101.stm
http://www.ecommercetimes.com/rsstory/46326.html
New Jersey: Landmark Education LLC v. The
Rick A. Ross Institute of New Jersey, Civil No. 04-3022 (D. N.J. case
dropped Dec. 28, 2005).
Status: Dropped
Landmark Education,
which describes itself as “a leader and innovator in the field of training and
development,” sued Acult de-programmer@ Rick
Ross over statements on his website challenging the organization’s legitimacy,
and his refusal to post Landmark’s response. But Landmark dropped its
case after a New Jersey appeals court ruled in Donato v. Moldrow, 374 N.J. Super. 475 (App. Div. 2005)
that a website operator is immune for suit for anonymous postings on the site,
under section 230 of the federal Communications Decency Act.
http://www.cultnews.com/archives/000777.html
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/051221/nyw149.html?.v=36
mentioned in http://www.law.com/jsp/article.jsp?id=1136838328818
New York: Choy v. Boyne, No. 115577/2005 (N.Y. Sup. Ct., New
York County dismissed April 8, 2006).
Status: Dismissed
James Boyne set up a
web site about a doctor from whom his wife had won a malpractice settlement;
the doctor sued for libel. The court dismissed the case.
New York: Citywide
Sewer & Drain Service Corp. v. Carusone, No.
05-018160 (N.Y. Sup. Ct. filed Nov. 14,
2005).
Status: Pending.
On Oct. 13, 2005, WPIX-TV in New York broadcast a consumer report focused
on complaints against Citywide Sewer & Drain Service Corp. The next day, defendant Angelo Carusone – whose father had worked for the company, and
himself had had a summer job there – posted an item titled “Citywide really is shitywide” on his blog (www.angelocarusone.com),
which repeated the allegations of the WPIX report. The company sued Carusone
and his father for libel. A motion for
summary judgment is pending.
http://www.angelocarusone.com/?p=102
Complaint: http://www.angelocarusone.com/files/1Complaint.pdf
Defendant’s motion for summary judgment: http://www.angelocarusone.com/files/4MotionSummaryJudgment.pdf
New York: NXIVM Corporation and First Principles, Inc. v. The Ross
Institute, Civil No. 03-CV-976, 2003 WL 22298756 (N.D.N.Y. order Sept. 9,
2003), aff’d, No.
03-7952, 364 F.3d 471 (2d Cir. April 20, 2004), cert.
denied, 543 U.S. 1000 (U.S. Nov 29, 2004).
Status: Pending
The organization
NXIVM, which provides an expensive training program called “Executive
Success" and requires participants to sign a non-disclosure agreement,
sued a "cult de-programmer" and two writers who authored and posted
on the Internet a report on plaintiff’s program using quotes from their
copyrighted seminar manual. The defendants posted the material, which
they obtained from a former seminar participant, on their web site.
The federal district court denied a preliminary injunction barring the defendants
from using the materials. The appeals court agreed, and the U.S. Supreme Court
declined to review the decision. The case is now proceeding in discovery.
mentioned in http://www.law.com/jsp/article.jsp?id=1136838328818
New York: Penn Warranty Corp. v. DiGiovanni, Index No. 600659/04 (N.Y. Sup. Ct., N.Y.
County dismissed Oct. 24, 2005).
Status: Dismissed
The court dismissed a libel suit against a New Jersey man for his 45-page Web
site (www.pennwarrantylitigation.com,
now inactive) detailing his gripes against car insurer, holding that the
comments on the site were protected free speech and did not constitute
defamation.
http://biz.yahoo.com/law/051101/09ff0649ee5c88176d85f611a15b84b2.html?.v=1
http://news.findlaw.com/andrews/bt/ebl/20051107/20051107pennwarranty.html
Decision: http://decisions.courts.state.ny.us/fcas/fcas_docs/2005oct/30060065920045sciv.pdf
New York: Sollami
v. Sheppard, 21 A.D.3d 408, 799 N.Y.S.2d 427, 2005 N.Y. Slip Op. 06311
(N.Y. Sup. Ct., App. Div. Aug. 8, 2005).
Status: Pending
In August, the Appellate Division reversed a trial court ruling dismissing
former Cornwall Supervisor Jim Sollami's defamation
case against Tom Sheppard, who publishes the blog Cornball-local.com.
The appeals court held that eight of the statements at issue in the case were
capable of defamatory meaning and should proceed to trial.
Decision and order available at http://www.courts.state.ny.us/reporter/3dseries/2005/2005_06311.htm
Coverage: http://www.recordonline.com/archive/2005/08/12/blogthis.htm
North Dakota: Wagner v. Miskin, 660 N.W.2d
593, 2003 ND 69 (N.D. May 6, 2003), cert. denied, 540 U.S. 1154 (2004).
Status: $3 million verdict for
plaintiff affirmed
(NOTE: Although this
award predates the award in Banks v. Milum, supra,
this case involves a more traditonal web site, not
what is traditionally referred to a a blog)
Former University of North Dakota student Glenda Miskin
created a website, undnews.com,
that criticized the university and its professors. Miskin was suspended from the university in 1990 after an
internal disciplinary committee found that she had stalked UND physics
professor John L. Wagner. But the site alleged that Wagner had harassed Miskin with sexually provocative phone calls. Wagner
sued, and won $2 million for libel, $500,000 for slander, and $500,000 for
interference with his business relationships. The North Dakota
Supreme Court upheld the award, and the U.S. Supreme Court
declined to review the case.
Ohio v. Baumgartner, No. CR-05-470184-A (Ohio C.P.
Ct., Cuyahoga
County
indictment Aug. 30, 2005); Ohio v. DuBois No. CR-05-470184-B (Ohio C.P. Ct., Cuyahoga County
indictment Aug. 30, 2005)
Status: Pending against Baumgartner; Charges against DuBois
dismissed pursuant to plea bargain (see below)
Two Internet bloggers were jailed in July on
charges related to their allegedly posting material critical of a judge on the blog www.erievoices.com and allegedly sending him
intimidating e-mails.
Elsebeth Baumgartner of Oak Harbor, Ohio and
Bryan DuBois of Sandusky, Ohio allegedly used
their site to libel and harass retired Cuyahoga County Judge Richard Markus,
who had presided over a libel lawsuit based on letters that Baumgartner, a
former attorney who was disbarred in 2003, sent to a school board member.
That trial ended with a $175,000 verdict against Baumgartner. In April
2004, Judge Markus also declared Baumgartner a “vexatious litigator” under Ohio
law.
Baumgartner’s case has missed three trial dates. On Nov. 14, 2005, trial judge
Shirley Strickland Saffold ordered her sent back to
jail for three days after Baumgartner said that she would be renewing her
motion to have Saffold removed from the
case. On Dec. 12, Baumgartner presented a note from her doctor that
she was not competent to stand trial, and Saffold
ordered her admitted to a psychiatric hospital for evaluation. On
June 1, 2006, Baumgartner was again found in contempt and jailed.
The trial is now scheduled to begin July 10, 2006.
In March 2006 DuBois plead guilty to separate charges
against him in Ottowa County, and agreed to testify
against Baumgartner in her trial,.
http://www.portclintonnewsherald.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060328/NEWS01/603280303
http://www.wkyc.com/video/player.aspx?aid=14346&sid=38099&bw=
(video)
http://www.portclintonnewsherald.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050927/NEWS01/509270301/1002
http://www.portclintonnewsherald.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20051214/NEWS01/512140306/1002
http://www.northcountrygazette.org/articles/060206BaumgartnerJailed.html
http://mp3.rbnlive.com/Greg/0603/20060329_Wed_Greg1.mp3 (audio)
Ohio v. DuBoisNo. CR-05-_______ (Ohio C.P. Ct.,
Ottawa County indictment July 12, 2005)
Status: Plea bargain
Besides his
indictment in Cuyahoga County (see above), erievoices.com webmaster Bryan Dubois was also indicted
in Ottawa County
on charges of intimidation and retaliation against one of the witnesses against
Baumgartner in the original libel lawsuit. On March 27, Dubois agreed to plead
guilty and testify against Elsebeth Baumgartner in
her criminal trial, scheduled for May 2005. As part of the deal, Dubois
formally apologized, and was sentenced to probation in the Ottawa County
case, with the charges against him in Cuyahoga County dismissed.
http://www.portclintonnewsherald.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060328/NEWS01/603280303
http://www.portclintonnewsherald.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050722/NEWS01/50722002/1002
http://www.portclintonnewsherald.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20051212/NEWS01/512120302/1002
Ohio: Suarez Corp. v. Meeks, Civil
No. 267513 (Ct. of Common Pleas, Cuyahoga County, Ohio settled Aug. 1994).
Status: Settled
Journalist Brock
Meeks criticized a company promoting e-mail marketing in his e-mail newsletter
(now defunct, but archived online at http://cyberwerks.com/cyberwire/). Benjamin
Suarez, owner of the company, Suarez Corp. Industries, sued for libel.
But before the case went to trial, Suarez offered to settle for $64; Meeks
accepted.
http://www.eff.org/legal/cases/?f=meeks_case.info
http://www.writing.upenn.edu/~afilreis/defamation-in-cyberspace.html
Pennsylvania: Deon v. McMonagle, No. 2005-08774 (Pa. C.P., Bucks County filed Dec. 8, 2005).
Status: Pending
Pasquale T. Deon Sr., who serves as chairman of the Philadelphia
transit agency SEPTA and the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission, filed suit
against Middletown, Pa.
Supervisor Robert McMonagle for comments on his blog website middletown-news.net.
http://middletown-news.net/news/20051210DeonLibel.html
Pennsylvania: Dimeo v. Tucker Max, Civil No. 06-1544 (E.D. Pa.
dismissed May 26, 2006), appeal filed, No. 06-3171 (3rd Cir. filed June
28, 2006).
Status: Dismissed;
Appeal pending.
A federal judge
dismissed party promoter Anthony DiMeo III's lawsuit over comments posted in message board
area of the tuckermax.com website regarding a New Year's Eve
party that he organized. DiMeo has appealed.
http://blogs.philly.com/blinq/2006/05/tucker_max_may_.html
http://messageboard.tuckermax.com/showthread.php?t=9804
Decision at http://www.myelectionanalysis.com/web-content/Images/Max_Motion_To_Dismiss.pdf
NOTE: This case involves
a bulletin board, not the blog itself. But it
is included because the site was primarily a blog.
Pennsylvania: D'Alonzo v. Truscello, April
Term, 2004 No. 0274, 2006 WL 1768091 (Pa. C.P., Pa.Com.Pl., dismissed May
31, 2006).
Status:
Dismissed
Pennsylvania State Senator Vincent Fumo sued the owner of the (now defunct) web site dumpfumo.com after
she posted to her site the verbatium text of
an article from the Philadelphia
Daily News, which he alleged was libelous. The motion judge
granted defendant's motion to dismiss on the grounds that the suit was barred
by section 230 of the federal Communications Decency Act; the Common Pleas
judge agreed and affirmed.
http://www.law.com/jsp/article.jsp?id=1149843924785
Case docket at http://fjdweb2.phila.gov/fjd/zk_fjd_public_qry_03.zp_dktrpt_frames?case_id=040400274
Pennsylvania: Melvin v. Doe, No. G.D. 99-10264 (Pa. C.P.,
Alleghany County 2000).
Status: Dismissed by plaintiff
Pennsylvania
Superior Court Judge Joan Orie Melvin sued the
anonymous author of the web site grantstreet99, which focused on local politics
in Alleghany County, Pa., over allegations that she had improperly lobbyied former Pennsylvania Governor Tom Ridge on behalf
of an attorney seeking appointment to the Allegheny Court of Common Pleas bench.
Melvin originally sued in Virginia, home of "Grant Street ‘99’s" web
host AOL, seeking an ex parte order requiring AOL to reveal the webmaster’s
identity of "John Doe." When the Virginia action was dismissed for
lack of jurisdiction, Judge Melvin then filed suit in Pennsylvania.
The trial court ordered Doe’s identity revealed and three fellow judges of
Melvin’s on the Superior Court declined to consider the merits of the appeal.
In November 2003, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court sent the case back to the
Superior Court and ordered a consideration of the merits. Melvin then dropped
the case.
In 2006, at a trial in a separate federal suit, John J. Chapman testified that
he was behind the Grant Street99 website. The jury in the federal suit, in
which Chapman alleged that he was fired from his job with Alleghany County
because of the site, found in favor of the county. (Chapman v. Cannon, Civil No. 01-1341
(W.D. Pa. jury verdict May 26, 2006)).
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/04094/295582.stm
http://www.freedomforum.org/templates/document.asp?documentID=3434
http://www.law.com/jsp/article.jsp?id=1069170417384
http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/news/cityregion/s_455043.html
Texas: Cisneros v. Sanchez, No. 2005-CCL-01024-A (Tex. County
Ct., filed Aug. 24, 2005).
Status: Pending
Robert Sanchez, who
lost a 2005 race for the Brownsville, Tex. city commission, maintained his
former campaign web site (www.robertsanchez05.com) to advertise his
restaurant , with a blog on local politics
(formerly at http://www.robertsanchez05.com/phpBB2/index.php?c=2).
The wife of Carlos Cisneros, who defeated Sanchez in the race, sued for
defamation for statements on the site that she alleges were written by Sanchez
under a psydonym. An effort by Sanchez to get
the suit moved to federal court was unsucessful.
After the suit was filed, Sanchez claimed that a hacker attack wiped out the blog's archive.
http://www.brownsvilleherald.com/ts_comments.php?id=66731_0_10_0_C
http://www.brownsvilleherald.com/ts_comments.php?id=67596_0_10_0_C
http://www.brownsvilleherald.com/ts_comments.php?id=68416_0_10_0_C
http://www.brownsvilleherald.com/ts_comments.php?id=69307_0_10_0_C
Texas: R.L. Lackner,
Inc. v. Sanchez, No. 2005-CCL-1032-C (Tex. County Ct., filed Aug. 30, 2005).
Status: Pending
Sanchez (see above)
was also sued by Carolyn Lackner Baird, owner of the
R.L. Lackner jewelry store in Brownsville. Her
suit claims that Sanchez allowed various postings on the bulletin board about
her and her daughter that were "vulgar, filthy, pornographic," and
"in bad taste," as well as false and defamatory statements about her
business. An effort by Sanchez to get the suit moved to federal
court was unsucessful. After the suit was
filed, Sanchez claimed that a hacker attack wiped out the blog's
archive.
http://www.brownsvilleherald.com/ts_comments.php?id=66834_0_10_0_C
http://www.brownsvilleherald.com/ts_comments.php?id=67596_0_10_0_C
http://www.brownsvilleherald.com/ts_comments.php?id=68416_0_10_0_C
http://www.brownsvilleherald.com/ts_comments.php?id=69307_0_10_0_C
Utah: Thalin
v. Misbach, No. _____ (Utah Dist. Ct., 4th
Dist. filed 2004).
Status: Motion to dismiss denied.
Laura Thalin, former director of a now-defunct group that practiced
and advocated “holding therapy,” a controversial method of treating troubled
children, sued the creators of a web site (www.kidscomefirst.info/)
criticizing the practice. In early March, Judge James R. Taylor denied a
defense motion to dismiss the suit as a “SLAPP suit.”
http://deseretnews.com/dn/view/0,1249,635191573,00.html
Virginia: Council on
American-Islamic Relations, Inc. v. Whitehead, No. CL04000926-00 (Va. Cir.
Ct. settled Dec. 2006).
Status: Settled
The Council on American-Islamic Relations sued Virginia Beach,
Va. resident Andrew Whitehead over statements on his website devoted to
criticizing the organization, http://www.anti-cair-net.org/, alleging that the group
was funded by and supported terrorists. The parties reached a settlement
for an undisclosed sum in December 2005.
http://www.danielpipes.org/article/1705
Plaintiff’s complaint: http://www.anti-cair-net.org/Law2.html
Defendant’s reply brief: http://www.anti-cair-net.org/Response.html
Virginia: Hargrave Military Academy v. Guyles, Civil No. 06-00283
(W.D. Va. filed May 8, 2006).
Status: Pending.
The Hargrave Military Academy sued Jeff and
Melissa Guyles over a web site they set up, www.HargraveHasProblems.com,
after their son Stewart Guyles was dismissed from the
school for violating its honor code. The federal judge hearing the case
issued a prelimiary injunction shutting down the site
in early May 2006, with a hearing in the case scheduled for the end of the
month.
http://www.registerbee.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=DRB/MGArticle/DRB_BasicArticle&cid=1137835980832&c=MGArticle
http://www.wdbj7.com/Global/story.asp?S=4877031&nav=S6aK
http://www.registerbee.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=DRB/MGArticle/DRB_BasicArticle&c=MGArticle&cid=1137836183233&path=
Washington: Sheehan v. King County Experian, No. C97-1360WD (W.D. Wash. order
denying prelim. inj. Issued July 17, 1998).
Status: Dismissed
In 1997, William
Sheehan filed suit against a number of credit reporting agencies, including
Experian, alleging violations of the Fair Debt Collections Practices Act and
the Fair Credit Reporting Act. In response, Experian sought and received
a temporary restraining order against Sheehan’s web site, http://billsheehan.com
(no longer in use), which included disparaging comments regarding the agency
and contact information for its employees and attorneys. After weighing
the First Amendment interests, the court vacated the temporary restraining
order and denied Experian’s effort to turn it into a preliminary
injunction. The court then dismissed the entire case.
http://www.aclu-wa.org/Issues/cyber-liberties/Sheehan.html
Order denying preliminary injunction: http://www.loundy.com/CASES/Sheehan_v_King_County.html
Washington: Trummel
v. Mitchell, No. ______ (Wash. Super. Ct., King County 2002).
Status: Contempt
citation reversed
Paul Trummel was sent to jail in February 2002, after
he refused to comply with the judge’s order to remove from his website (http://www.contracabal.net)
the names and addresses of the administrators of the low-income senior citizens’
residence in Seattle where he had lived ("Council House"). He ended
up spending 111 days in jail.
The feud between Trummel and Council House began when
Trummel began distributing a newsletter to residents
detailing his complaints about the building. Based on the newsletter and other
allegedly disruptive behavior, Judge Doerty granted a
restraining order against Trummel on April 19, 2001. Trummel then posted his complaints on his website, as well
as commentary on events at Council House, and the names and home addresses and
phone numbers of the administrators. Doerty amended
the order to require that the personal contact information be removed, and
imposed a $100 daily fine until this was done.
Tremmel initially complied, but then reposted the
information on another website (http://contracabal.org/) based in Holland. When Trummel refused to remove the information from that site, Doerty held him in contempt in February 2002 and ordered
him jailed. He was released in June after Judge Doerty
revised the order to prohibit Trummel from coming withing 500 feet of Council House.
The Washington intermediate appeals court upheld the order of contempt, ruling
it was based on Trummel’s conduct, not his statements
in the newsletter or websites.
But the Washington Supreme Court reversed. Trummel
v. Mitchell, 131 P.3d 305 (Wash. March 30, 2006). The court
agreed that Judge Doerty’s original order was proper,
since it was directed at Trummel’s conduct, not
anything he wrote in his newsletter. But it also held that the portion of the
order prohibiting Trummel from contacting Council
House residents and staff in any way and at any location was overbroad.
As for the contempt citations and jailing, the Supreme Court held that Trummel’s continued reporting of events at Council House
did not constitute "surveillance," which was prohibited by the trial
court’s original order.
Thus it held that the contempt citations were an abuse of discretion, and
vacated them. It also held that the court’s subsequent order prohibiting Trummel from posting information on his website was also
invalid.
Trummel still faces six charges for violating Judge Doerty’s order and failing to appear in court, and there is
a warrant for his arrest. His whereabouts are unknown, even to his attorney,
but he is apparently reachable by e-mail and was still updating his websites in
early April 2006.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3659307/
http://www.politechbot.com/2006/04/04/washington-supreme-court/
Wisconsin: Miranda v. Sykes (Wis. Small Cl
Ct., Milwaukee County settled July 28, 2005).
Status: Settled
A radio talk show host who posted and responded to a listener's e-mail on his blog (http://www.620wtmj.com/_content/talk/charliesykes/index.asp)
settled a lawsuit against him for $5,000.
WTMJ-AM talk show host Charlie Sykes removed the e-mail within a few hours of
posting it in November 2004 post, after he learned that it contained factual
errors. But the posting was still available enterprising Internet search three
months later.
The suit, filed by Spanish Journal editor Robert
Miranda, was settled in return for the station establishing a $5,000
scholarship for high school journalism students.
http://www.jsonline.com/news/metro/jul05/344033.asp
http://www.jsonline.com/news/metro/jul05/345025.asp
http://www.620wtmj.com/_content/talk/charliesykes/index.asp?id=8&month=7&year=2005
(scroll down to July 27, 2005, 7:19 a.m. entry)
U.S. Army: U.S. v. Clark (U.S.
Army Ct. Martial 2005).
Status: Defendant fined and demoted
In July, the U.S. Army demoted and fined Arizona National Guardsman Leonard
Clark for publishing "classified" information on a blog (www.leonardclark.com/blog; now inactive) set up by
friends that featured recordings of his phone calls from Iraq criticizing the
war. This year the military began requiring enlisted personnel to
register their blogs with superiors.
http://news.com.com/2100-1028_3-5815812.html
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,164815,00.html
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/8769418/site/newsweek/
http://cdn.kjzz.org/news/arizona/archives/200507/leonardclark/leonardclark.mp3
(audio)
