Lawmaker's Facebook Rant Threatens Media For "Unauthorized" Use of His Name

An anonymous reader points out that Frederick County Councilman Kirby Delauter may be in need of a First Amendment lesson. "Apparently, a local Maryland politician ditched his civics class the day press freedoms were discussed. How else to explain Frederick County Councilman Kirby Delauter's recent Facebook rant in which he threatened a local newspaper with litigation because—wait for it—his name was used in print without his permission. 'Use my name again unauthorized and you'll be paying for an Attorney. Your rights stop where mine start,' Kirby Delauter, the councilman, posted on his Facebook page. He added: 'So let me be clear.........do not contact me and do not use my name or reference me in an authorized form in the future.'"

Comments

Re:Where rights stop and start

[Vermonter]

I don't think he was incorrect that "their rights stopped where his started", I think he just doesn't realize where his rights actually start.

Obviously laughable, but ...

[ScentCone]

So the guy is an ill-informed twit, a product of a typical Maryland public education. That's fine, because he's just a typical local guy who got a few dozen more votes than the next guy, and got a job as a minor league politician on a local county council.

But the problem is that we're seeing this sort of attitude (manifesting itself a bit differently) from the very top of the nation's executive branch. Lip service to promised "transparency," but in practice, draconian limitations on non-spin-approved access by journalists and photographers, reporters (and their entire organizations) being tapped and harassed if they don't convey the right message. Politicians have always had their favorite media contacts, but the ever-receding notion that they work for us is resulting in newly toxic levels of entitlement-itis and a sort of vaguely imperial bearing. That some elected officials have flirted with that from day one of the republic is not news, but the founders anticipated that and built in checks and balances. And some of those have been sorely tested, of late.

It will be interesting to see how the Attkisson suit plays out.

Kirby Delauter

[roc97007]

To be a valid streisand effect, the name of this article should have been "Kirby Delauter's Facebook Rant Threatens Media For 'Unauthorized' Use of His Name". Just sayin'.

Republican (for the record)

[DumbSwede]

Most stories omit his party affiliation.
So pleased to see he is keeping up the (new) Republican tradition of being bat-shit insane.

Re:Republican (for the record)

[rtb61]

You are the problem with American politics. All of them, the pseudo religious, the pseudo left and pseudo conservatives, have the same thing in common. They jump into any organisation or group not for the goals of the group but to achieve their own personal goals and only exploit that group to achieve them. They are neither religious nor left nor conservative, they are self serving egoists. Until you focus on the individuals and their actual individual behaviour and drop the silly main stream media created party politics thing, you will achieve nothing.

The newspaper clearly has a sense of humor

[Registered Coward v2]

They ran an editorial about it:

he who shall be named repeatedly

Re:Dear Kirby Delauter,

[bleh-of-the-huns]

Easter egg.. sorta...

Look at the first letter of each paragraph :)

Bethany Rodgers

[tentative]

I particularly like how he calls the reported out by name - presumably unauthorized...