School District Threatens Suit Over Parent's Blog

penguin_dance writes "A Texas School District is threatening to sue a parent over what it terms 'libelous material' or other 'legally offensive' postings on her web site and are demanding their removal. Web site owner Sandra Tetley says they're just opinions. The legal firm sending the demand cited 16 items, half posted by Tetley, the rest by anonymous commentators to her blog. The alleged libelous postings 'accuse Superintendent Lynne Cleveland, trustees and administrators of lying, manipulation, falsifying budget numbers, using their positions for "personal gain," violating the Open Meetings Act and spying on employees, among other things.' The problem for the district is that previous courts have ruled that governments can't sue for libel. So now, in a follow-up story, the lawyers say the firm 'would file a suit on behalf of administrators in their official capacities and individual board members. The suit, however, would be funded from the district's budget.' So far, Tetley hasn't backed down, although she said she'll 'consult with her attorneys before deciding what, if anything, to delete.'"

Comments

Absolute defense.

[Ihlosi]

The alleged libelous postings 'accuse Superintendent Lynne Cleveland, trustees and administrators of [...] using their positions for "personal gain," [...]

The suit, however, would be funded from the district's budget.'

Isn't truth an absolute defense to an accusation of libel ?

Its not that hard a problem.

[imsabbel]

Just because its a blog doesnt it make any less real than posting it as leaflets on lampposts.

If the accusations are true, than they will lose.
If they arent, they have every right to defend themselves against this libel.

Generate your own bad publicity

[WibbleOnMars]

I don't know the details of this story, whether there's any merit in the school's arguments or not, because I haven't read the original blog (and even if I did, I'd be reading a one-sided biased view), but they are being seen to have gone in heavy-handed with the lawyers, and the result is that a small local dispute has been syndicated in Slashdot, and probably plenty of places elsewhere. Effectively by calling in the lawyers, they've turned a small amount of bad publicity into a very large amount of much worse publicity. This is something I've noticed happening a lot lately (most obviously with the RIAA etc). So regardless of the merits of the case, the lesson seems to be if you're considering calling the lawyers, you'd be wise to try less drastic steps first to get your point across. And if you're on the receiving end of a nasty letter from the lawyers, blog about it in a way that focuses on how it affects your rights, and make sure Slashdot gets to hear it.

Elected Officials

[dreamchaser]

These are elected officials we are talking about. School board members are chosen by election. The rules for libel are far different for public figures than for private individuals. This might get interesting. The defendent's speech is political in nature so we're talking First Amendment issues here.

Re:Elected Officials

[pla]

does an elected official that most people don't even know count as a "public figure"?

In most places, these people have more power than the rest of local government combined. They usually control over two-thirds of the town/city budget, they have the power to make the life of anyone with children a living hell, and they usually have so little oversight as to make them nearly bulletproof in a scandal.

Even if you don't have kids, you damned well better have an interest in what goes on with your local school board (unless you don't care how rapidly your excise and property taxes go up).

She'd better be able to back up those accusations

[GauteL]

"falsifying budget numbers, using their positions for "personal gain," violating the Open Meetings Act and spying on employees,"

These are all very serious accusations of criminal behaviour from members of the school board. Unless Tetley has any proof of these accusations I can see why they could be considered libelous.

Whether or not it is good publicity to sue is another matter.

Re:Easy

[Da Fokka]

You have to understand that the actions of your school against your are the result of their fear of negative publicity. Use this to your advantage. It looks like some of your criticism was legitimate. Contact your local newspaper and tell them about the issues you have. You have a right to proper education and if you are being denied that right, you have the right to tell people about the main reasons you are not getting the education you deserve.

Re:She'd better be able to back up those accusatio

[dkf]

Those aren't serious allegations. These are run of the mill things. Who doesn't fudge budgets? Well, while short-term fudging is common (due to things like payments getting delayed, etc.) long-term fudging is serious and indicates that there's probably serious trouble hidden. Uncovering this sort of thing is exactly what auditors are supposed to do .

Who doesn't use their position to advance themselves or their relatives (ie., nepotism)? Nepotism is a serious allegation. If the relative is any good, they can get their position without it, and who would want to hire someone who isn't good? (Answer: someone not fit for the job)

Who doesn't spy on their employees (ie., read employee email or go hunting for personal webpages)? Those two things are different. Employee email is generally sent with the expectation of some degree of privacy, but personal webpages are voluntary publication to anyone who cares to read. Looking for public info isn't spying, looking for confidential info is. OK?

The thing is, unless these administrators are angels (and they're probably human, not angel), the allegations are probably true. These are things people of average moral character do on a normal basis. People of good moral character usually don't do this, but then again, I doubt they'd make it into a management position. Management usually goes to 'yes' people, not people with strong morals. Sounds like you've had to suffer from terrible management somewhere along the line. I really feel for you.