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New Jersey Judge Shields Anonymous Blogger

Posted by Soulskill on from the keeping-hidden-agendas-hidden dept.

netbuzz brings us an update to a case we discussed earlier this month: "In a widely watched free-speech case, a New Jersey judge has upheld a blogger's right to criticize county officials anonymously. The contention of those officials was that the blogger is actually a former mayor/attorney being sued by the local government for malpractice. This comes less than a month after the Electronic Frontier Foundation began their legal efforts to shield the blogger, claiming that the subpoena for Google to release his identity was 'part of an unrelated and unauthorized campaign to embarrass or otherwise outmaneuver the Defendant.' Score one for the First Amendment."

5 of 61 comments (clear)

  1. First amendment? by Opportunist · · Score: 5, Insightful

    The first amendment is afaik only about saying your mind freely. Not that you may do it anonymously.

    Now, in our times this is pretty much the same, but you know how technicalities are usually used to circumvent constitutional rights. I wouldn't deem it impossible that we'll soon see a movement that yes, you may say what you want, but we want to know who you are. Of course we won't limit your freedom to say what you want, and that van in front of your apartment is really just a pizza truck that has been delivering for days, the amount of speeding tickets you got recently just means that you had really bad luck getting caught and that your kids get worse marks now is just a result of them slacking.

    --
    We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
    1. Re:First amendment? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Soon be a movement? You mean that hasn't been going on since (or before) long-range wiretapping became possible thanks to satellite technology? You mean it hasn't been gathering more and more acceptance thanks to the 'war on terror'?

      I've been worried about the fact that few people worry about this for a while now... Is it the sense of powerlessness? Do people feel there's no real hope to change it? Or do they really not notice?

      Free speech carries implicit the right to speak freely even under a pseudonym -- and legally, people have the right to assume whatever name they want, as long as they are not doing it in order to commit fraud/etc. I'm not sure why it wouldn't apply if someone didn't choose to explicitly use a pseudonym -- or why, indeed, legalistically speaking, the name of the site can't be consider pseudonymistic. It's another example of how the laws of pen and paper can't be broadly applied in the digital realm.

      Weird.

      Go, Jersey Judge, go!

    2. Re:First amendment? by wave_man07 · · Score: 5, Informative

      "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances." I believe you are explicitly incorrect. The first amendment clearly says that no law may be passed abridging freedom of speech. Abridging is an interesting word. I like to think of it as very similar to encroaching. The word implies a "complete" right, absolute freedom of speech. No law of Congress (what about states?, by implication they also cannot infringe the national constitution) can impair that right. So if it is a complete right, it is everything you can imagine. And you should! So if you speak anonymously, do not ask if the Constitution gives you that right. It does. Any law that forces you to identify yourself in relation to your speech, if you have chosen to speak anonymously, is inherently un-constitutional. This does not say that you are not responsible for covering your own tracks. This does not say it is unlawful to try to find out who said something. You are responsible for defending your own anonymity by your own definition of "best practice". Free speech is wonderful, complicated, and sometimes sucky (when it is millions of dollars of swift-boat drivel hitting your frontal lobe for example). When you are being assaulted by K-Street's version of free speech, say a little mantra to yourself, thank the framers that even idiots and assholes are consecrated in the First Amendment.

  2. Don't Tase Me, New Jersey Bro! by DrScottyB · · Score: 5, Funny

    You mean you can openly disagree with politicians and not get tased? Weird.

    1. Re:Don't Tase Me, New Jersey Bro! by b0s0z0ku · · Score: 5, Funny
      You mean you can openly disagree with politicians and not get tased? Weird.


      In NJ -- sure. Tasers are actually illegal here, even for police use. Shot on the other hand...


      -b.