Category Archives: Free Speech

Team Kimberlin Post of the Day

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Six years ago today, I ran this post, In Re Kimberlin v. Walker, et al.

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Convicted perjurer, drug smuggler, and bomber Brett Kimberlin has filed a Maryland lawsuit naming bloggers Aaron Walker, W. J. J. Hoge, and Robert Stacy McCain; National Bloggers Club President Ali A. Akbar; and the anonymous blogger Kimberlin Unmasked as defendants.

The defendants believe that the suit is without merit and is part of Kimberlin’s continued effort to use lawfare to silence journalists and bloggers who have written truthfully about Kimberlin’s criminal past and recent conduct. The defendants will not make any further comments until they have finished initial consultations their respective legal counsel.

UPDATE—Stacy McCain’s statement is here.

UPDATE 2—Kimberlin Unmasked’s statement is here. [Broken link]

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The Dread Deadbeat Pro-Se Kimberlin made countless errors during his ill-fated attempts at pro se litigation. His worst mistake was suing me.

Gilmore v. Jones, et al. News

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It’s been about two years since Brennan Gilmore filed a defamation suit in the U. S. District Court in Charlottesville, Virginia, against Alex Jones and a non-related group of defendants. Earlier this year, the judge ruled against most of the defendants’ motions to dismiss (Allen West’s motion was granted), and all but one of the remaining defendants then filed motions for reconsideration or for an interlocutory appeal to a higher court to resolve disputed matters of law. Those motions were fully briefed, so the court scheduled a hearing to consider them on 5 September. However, the court gave notice last week that it would rule on the motions based on the written briefs and that the hearing was cancelled.

Since the briefs were filed, the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals has issued a ruling that bears on when a district court must certify a question for an interlocutory appeal. The lawyer representing several of the defendants had planned to bring that ruling to the court’s attention during the hearing. Because he will no longer have that opportunity, he has filed a motion to be allowed to supplement his brief.

Team Kimberlin Post of the Day

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The idea for Blogsmoke came out of a lame attempt by Matt Osborne at Breitbart Unmasked Bunny Billy Boy Unread to make fun of me as someone who imagined himself as the sheriff of the Internet. And so, the Lickspittle Broadcasting System was born. As the Twitter Town Sheriff’s department expanded, Blogsmoke begat Blognet. This episode first ran five years ago today.

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BlognetTitleCardMUSIC: Theme. Intro and fade under.

NARRATOR: Ladies and gentlemen, the story you are about to hear is true. The names have been changed to protect the innocent.

MUSIC: Up, then under …

NARRATOR: You’re a Detective Sergeant. You’re assigned to Internet Detail. A noted anti-First-Amendment activist has sued a group of bloggers trying to shut down their free speech and free press rights. Your job … get the facts.

MUSIC: Up then under …

ANNOUNCER: Blognet … the documented drama of an actual case. For the next few minutes, in cooperation with the Twitter Town Sheriff’s Department, you will travel step by step on the side of the good guys through an actual case transcribed from official files. From beginning to end, from crime to punishment, Blognet is the story of the good guys in action.

MUSIC: Up and out. Continue reading →

Team Kimberlin Post of the Day

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One of the more illusive members of the Dread Deadbeat Pirate Pro-Se Kimberlin’s crew is First Mate Neal Rauhauser. However, he did turn up as the subject of a post from a year ago today titled And In Other Good First Amendment News …

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The largest anti-SLAPP penalty ever awarded is now the largest anti-SLAPP penalty ever reversed and remanded. The 2nd State Court of Appeals in Fort Worth, Texas, found the 67th State District Court in Fort Worth had abused its discretion in awarding Neal Rauhauser more than $300,000 in attorney’s fees, $150,000 in sanctions (initial sanction award was $1,000,000), and additional non-monetary sanctions not authorized by the Texas Citizen’s Participation Act (TCPA). The court further ordered Appellee Neal Rauhauser to pay all costs of the appeal to the prevailing parties, James McGibney and ViaView, Inc., the parent company of the BullyVille website.

James McGibney stated, “It’s not an everyday occurrence that you see a fugitive, with four outstanding warrants for their arrest, win and then, in dramatic fashion, lose one million dollars, without ever stepping foot in a courtroom. That’s exactly what happened to defendant Neal Rauhauser, and we are grateful that the SecondCourt of Appeals found in our favor.”

Everything is proceeding as I have foreseen.

UPDATE—More here.

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AFAIK, Rauhauser hasn’t paid any of what he owes, but what would you expect from a Deadbeat Dad?

NPR and Defamation

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Politico reports that a U. S. District Court in Texas has ruled that a defamation suit filed against a group of defendants including National Public Radio can proceed to discovery. Judge Amos Mazzant found the $57 million suit filed by Ed Butowsky makes plausible claims that the network may be liable for defamation for a series of online stories about Butowsky’s role in publicizing assertions that Democratic National Committee staffer Seth Rich was murdered as part of a broader political plot.

NPR argued that the reports by media correspondent David Folkenflik accurately described a prior lawsuit filed against Fox News and Butowsky for defamation, accusing Fox of fabricating quotations in a story about Rich’s murder. The judge did not agree.

“The statements made by Folkenflik were made as verifiable statements of fact,” the judge wrote. “The statements at issue were not merely expressing a subjective view. Looking at the context of the verifiable facts, nothing shows the statements expressed Folkenflik’s opinion or merely offer Folkenflik’s personal perspective on disputed facts.”

Butowsky has several other defamation suits pending against other news outfits, including CNN, Vox, and The New York Times.