Nancy Deas and Edna Deas are the owners of www.aligus.com. In 2005, they were the first ones that we know of to be sued by a veterinarian for comments made on a web site. North Carolina vet Kevin Monce sued them for libel and defamation for the comments about him on their site in conjunction with the death of their dog Alex and the handling of their complaint by the North Carolina veterinary board. After 2 1/2 years, trial was set to go forward next week. The vet withdrew his lawsuit this week.
"Every time somebody tries to stifle speech, they end up advertising it."
-- Bruce Rogow, law professor
Do you know of a vet threatening legal action against a client/victim? Please let us know and help us spread the word about lawsuits designed to take away First Amendment freedoms. more
Six people in Texas now being sued by veterinarians
First Amendment Resource Section
"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."
-- First Amendment, U.S. Constitution
"Equal justice under law is not just a caption on the facade of the Supreme Court building. It is perhaps the most inspiring ideal in our society . . . It is fundamental that justice should be the same, in substance and availability, without regard to economic status."
-- United States Supreme Court Justice Lewis Powell, Jr.
This section is a resource for anyone facing threats and intimidation by veterinarians (and others) and their lawyers and what you can do to fight back.
If you are a First Amendment advocate interested in contributing research or knowledge to this project, or want to share your story of being legally threatened by anyone attempting to squash your freedom of speech,
WE WANT TO HEAR FROM YOU.
Contact speakout@vetabusenetwork.com
Related First Amendment Resources:
"Public Citizen has been in the forefront of the legal defense of the First Amendment right to maintain a gripe site, defending against claims that challenge the domain names of gripe sites, the use of meta tags or other devices to call the public's attention to the sites, and baseless claims of libel or other torts that are invoked as a basis for shutting down critics."
eff.org - The Electronic Frontier Foundation
Protects rights to blog and post anonymously
ESPC v. Ebert
EFF blocked a brazen attempt to intimidate online critics by the Embroidery Software Protection Coalition (ESPC). ESPC asked the courts to unmask anonymous members of an online discussion group critical of the Coalition's actions. (The online group was created to share information about the ESPC's long-running campaign to threaten purchasers of embroidery designs and software with copyright infringement lawsuits.) When ESPC filed lawsuits against members of the group and subpoenaed personal information of every single person in it, EFF filed a motion to block ESPC's requests. ESPC then agreed to drop its attempts to unmask the users.
In 1996, Georgia enacted a law barring online users from using pseudonyms or communicating anonymously over the Internet. EFF joined a coalition of groups in a suit that blocked the law's enforcement.
www.eff.org - The Electronic Frontier Foundation
2006 PEN/Newman's Own First Amendment Award
American Civil Liberties Union - ACLU - "Free speech is crucial to the survival of democracy. Without it, government reigns unchallenged and humanity drifts from the pursuit of truth. That is why the ACLU defends the free expression of ideas, even those that are unpopular or offensive."
Pierce County SLAPP Suit - "After a leader of the Connell’s Prairie Community Council spoke at a public meeting to accuse Right-Price of unlawfully circumventing the state’s Growth Management Act, the developer sued the group for making false statements and harming the company financially. Agreeing with the argument of an ACLU amicus brief, the Washington Court of Appeals rejected the developer’s demand that the advocacy group be forced to turn over its membership list and financial records. Cooperating attorney Jeff Fisher wrote the ACLU’s brief."
SLAPP suits - Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation
Short of a gun to the head, a greater threat to First Amendment expression can scarcely be imagined. — Judge J. Nicholas Colabella (1992), on Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation (SLAPPs)
SLAPP Suits Q&A - An Interview with George Pring
Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation: Encyclopedia
SLAPP Happy: Corporations that Sue to Shut You Up
"Initially we saw such suits as attacks on traditional 'free speech' and regarded them as just 'intimidation lawsuits,' " Pring and Canan state. "As we studied them further, an even more significant linkage emerged: the defendants had been speaking out in government hearings, to government officials, or about government actions. . . . This was not just free speech under attack. It was that other and older and even more central part of our Constitution: the right to petition government for a redress of grievances, the 'Petition Clause' of the First Amendment."
SLAPP suits threaten the very foundation of citizen involvement and public participation in democracy. "Americans by the thousands are being sued, simply for exercising one of our most cherished rights: the right to communicate our views to our government officials, to 'speak out' on public issue," state Pring and Canan. "Today, you and your friends, neighbors, co-workers, community leaders, and clients can be sued for millions of dollars just for telling the government what you think, want, or believe in. Both individuals and groups are now being routinely sued in multimillion-dollar damage actions for such 'all-American' political activities as circulating a petition, writing a letter to the editor, testifying at a public hearing, reporting violations of law, lobbying for legislation, peaceful demonstrating, or otherwise attempting to influence government action."
SLAPP Resource Center - Defending Your Right to Speak Out
From www.thefirstamendment.org:
SLAPP targets have been sued for engaging in a wide variety of protected speech and protected expression activities, including:and, of course, putting up a website with personal opinions and experiences...
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/11/09/gripe_site/
"Competing
with an individual's right to protect one's own reputation, is the
constitutionally guaranteed right to free speech," she wrote.
"Consequently, statements that merely express opinion are not actionable as
defamation, no matter how offensive, vituperative or unreasonable they may
be."
"Moreover, in the context of statements pertaining to issues of consumer advocacy, courts have been loath to stifle someone's criticism of goods or services," she added. "The courts have recognised that personal opinion about goods and services are a matter of legitimate public concern and protected speech."
Which states have antiSLAPP protection?
At least 24 other states and one territory have also enacted some form of legal protections against SLAPPs. These are Arkansas, California, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Guam, Hawaii, Indiana, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, New York, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Utah, Washington, and West Virginia.
Articles:
Trademark Lawsuits: The Price of Online Griping
Companies sue to close gripe sites
"Companies that initiate this litigation know they probably
won't win but do it in hopes of silencing their critics anyway because,
obviously, it's very expensive to defend a case like this," Arkush said.
While Richard strongly defends a company's right to protect its trademark, she
also noted that she does not recommend that her clients -- who have been hit
with gripe sites -- file trademark violation suits. They're hard to win, she
said, and they can create a public relations nightmare.
"The impact [of gripe sites] overall is minimal, whereas the publicity
that may arise from a lawsuit could do more damage than the site itself,"
Richard said. "And if you look at the precedent it's not encouraging."
Atlanta Humane Society Loses Both Libel Suits - Mills and Harkins Kick Garrett's Butt, www.critterchatter.com AHS director Bill Garrett compares his critics to 9/11 terrorists, calling them "zealots." Garrett retired from the AHS, prompting one commentator to state: "If his final act as director was to blow three-quarters of a million dollars (our estimate) of his employer’s money on legal fees in a foolish, pointless and misguided attempt to punish two women who criticized him, you would have to call that a pretty impressive exit."
Said
Kathi Mills in The
Weekly, Atlanta: "More and more
people are being sued for expressing opinions big companies don't like, and they
are retaliating with lawsuits like this, designed to silence critics. My victory
is a warning that Georgia citizens will not surrender our First Amendment rights
to freedom of speech and to petition our government for redress of grievances.
We can fight these suits and we can win."
"Sludge
Backs Up: Merco's SLAPP Suit Fails in Texas" Says
judge: "Defamation law should not be used as a threat to force individuals
to muzzle their truthful, reasonable opinions and beliefs. To endorse Merco's
version of defamation law would be to disregard . . . constitutional
protections."
"Law
Firm Fined for Frivolous SLAPP suit"
The 1st Amendment group had asserted in
a court brief that the developer had "sued Steers in order to harass and
intimidate her, to chill her exercise of free speech and to intimidate others
from similarly engaging in the lawful activity of petitioning government
agencies."
"Fishing for Competence" California SLAPP suit declared illegal
"What's the Beef?" (as we know, Oprah won)
Public Citizen Press Room - Rev. Jerry Falwell Loses Bid to Shut Down Disapproving Web Site
Internet Parodies - a Jerry Falwell parody web site
Web sites:
Psychic Sylvia Browne attempts to silence web site using bogus "trademark infringement" threat
Web site's response to Sylvia Browne's attempts to silence web site
Here's a site that was bullied by dentists, fought back, and won:
www.dentalfraudinflorida.com - Woman in Florida exposes system that cleared dentists
From article in law.com
"[Paul] Levy's co-counsel, James K. Green of West
Palm Beach, claimed the dentists were relying on an unconstitutional
confidentiality law.
"I've gotten 10 gag laws declared unconstitutional," he said.
"For some reason, Florida has this history of trying to gag complaints
about all sorts of people -- public officials, police officers and others."
NOTE: The dentists claimed that the site owner broke some kind of "confidentiality" law in Florida by revealing what went on in a state investigation. It was a desperate and laughable attempt to silence a citizen who has every right to tell of their experiences at the state level with regard to a complaint and investigation of a licensee of the state. It is true that the STATE cannot release that information if it is confidential, but there is nothing to prevent a CONSUMER from releasing it. - J.C.
SLAPP AHS! Lawsuit Information Site
Auto Dealer Spends $100,000 Trying to Get Web Site Down (and fails)
Ford Drops Appeal -- 2600 Victory Affirmed
Taubmansucks.com - Hilarious account by Henry Mishkoff of taking on lawyers and their dirty tactics in frivolous trademark infringement suit.
Editorials:
Join the Free Speech Online Blue Ribbon Campaign
Why is the Free Speech Online campaign important?
Because someday a veterinarian may be in control of what you can and cannot say about them. Because with regard to addressing veterinary malpractice, incompetence, negligence, and abuse, the Internet is about all we have left. Historically, veterinarians either control or exploit systems that consistently fall short of protecting consumers and their pets. How do they do this? More
Related links:
New Year's message from founder 1.2.2006
"Truly Obscene Language: What is Going on in South Carolina?" vetabusenetwork.com
Help! My Vet Sued Me! vetabusenetwork.com Do you know a bully vet using the legal system to silence their critics? The public has the right to know who they are. More
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