Room 8, which covers New York City and surrounding region politics, was recently the target of what sounds like gross prosecutorial misconduct. They were served a criminal subpoena by the Bronx District Attorney, who wanted to know the identity of one of their anonymous bloggers and commenters, "Republican Dissident". The subpoena was accompanied by a gag order, so the facts of the case were hidden from public view until today.
Luckily, Room 8 was able to get free legal counsel from Public Citizen, and, as the New York Times tells it, that solved the problem:
The district attorney eventually withdrew the subpoena and lifted the gag requirement after the bloggers threatened to sue. But the fact that the tactic was used at all raised alarm bells for some free speech advocates.
As blogs grow in influence, we'll probably see more of this type of legal harassment from those who have the resources to launch a suit. It deserves the attention of anyone who thinks that free speech is important.
Comments
What is your take on the "Fairness Doctrine"?
I'm opposed to it.
I should have known, but there are way too many people who want to protect free speech only as long as the speaker agrees with their point of view.
Free speech is also limited by the PC and thought police.
I too am in favor of free speech whether or not I agree with the speaker, blog, newspaper, etc.
When it comes to the airwaves, free speech is a tricky issue, since the government decides who gets the various frequencies on the dial. With the blogs and printed matter, things are much more clear cut.
One other thing about free speech is that it doesn't excuse really dumb writing...like the D&C. Obviously papers are free to print whatever they like without fear of legal repercussions, but that doesn't mean they shouldn't try to do better.
(And I write that as someone who agrees with most of what I read there...as does nearly everyone since most of it consists of "thumbs up for puppies, thumbs down for thieves".)
I have been shut off by one blog - The Albany Project. They didn't like what I said and they cut me off (it wasn't profane or anything like that). If a blog or newspaper wants free speech they should extend it to others who disagree with them.
It goes without saying that I oppose shutting off commenters who make good points and don't use profanity, regardless of their political beliefs.
It is quite disturbing (although not surprising) that a prosecutor would use his/her position of power to violate the Constitutional Rights of Americans. We must remind ourselves as American Citizens that our Founding Fathers created the Constitution not for prosecutors to shred, but to protect Americans from their own government. It is a battle that has gone on since the birth of our nation.
I have a blog that addresses these very issures that I will not spam on anyone, but I invite any prosecutor to pull that malicious political garbage on me as I will be more than happy to sue them into the stone age.