Welcome to DU!
The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards.
Join the community:
Create a free account
Support DU (and get rid of ads!):
Become a Star Member
Latest Breaking News
Editorials & Other Articles
General Discussion
The DU Lounge
All Forums
Issue Forums
Culture Forums
Alliance Forums
Region Forums
Support Forums
Help & Search
Judge Allows Case Against Neo-Nazi Publisher to Proceed
Hat tip, Popehat:
WhatCouldGoWrongHat Retweeted
Fed judge rules lawsuit against the publisher of the Daily Stormer for summoning a "troll swarm" to threaten and harass a Montana family does not violate the First Amendment (at least at pleading stage).
Ct. denies motion to dismiss. https://www.scribd.com/document/393300582/Gersh-v-Anglin-Daily-Stormer-Troll-Storm-Lawsuit-Order-Denying-Motion-to-Dismiss …
Link to tweet
The background here is unfortunate. A Montana realtor got into a spat with Richard Spencer's mother. So his white supremacist pal Andrew Anglin used the Daily Stormer to send his followers to threaten the realtor.
She received over 700 messages, including recorded gun shots.
Link to tweet
Here's the central First Amendment ruling. As pleaded, the lawsuit does not violate the First Amendment, but the facts, particularly whether the realtor was or became a public figure, can be developed as the case proceeds.
Link to tweet
Judge Allows Case Against Neo-Nazi Publisher to Proceed
Website's call for a "troll storm" against Whitefish realtor Tanya Gersh not protected by First Amendment, judge says
BY ASSOCIATED PRESS // NOV 14, 2018
HELENA — The First Amendment’s free-speech protections do not shield a neo-Nazi website publisher from being sued for a “troll storm” by his readers that led to hundreds of anti-Semitic threats against a Jewish woman and her family, a federal judge ruled Wednesday.
U.S. District Judge Dana Christensen’s decision allows Tanya Gersh’s lawsuit against The Daily Stormer publisher Andrew Anglin to proceed on claims that Anglin invaded her privacy, inflicted emotional distress on her and her family and violated Montana’s anti-intimidation law.
Anglin accused Gersh, a real-estate agent in the Montana resort town of Whitefish, of seeking to force the mother of white nationalist Richard Spencer to leave town in 2016 by trying to persuade her to sell her commercial property. Anglin published the phone numbers, email addresses and social media profiles of Gersh, her husband and 12-year-old son and wrote, “Are y’all ready for an old fashioned troll storm?”
Gersh said her family received more than 700 threatening and harassing messages, many of them anti-Semitic, online and by phone and mail. ... Anglin argued that the First Amendment protects his speech and that he can’t be held liable for his followers’ actions. Gersh’s attorneys responded that the First Amendment was never meant to protect a campaign that aimed to destroy people’s lives. ... Christensen said Anglin’s speech against Gersh appeared to be a matter of private concern, not public concern, and that opens him to more regulation.
....
Website's call for a "troll storm" against Whitefish realtor Tanya Gersh not protected by First Amendment, judge says
BY ASSOCIATED PRESS // NOV 14, 2018
HELENA — The First Amendment’s free-speech protections do not shield a neo-Nazi website publisher from being sued for a “troll storm” by his readers that led to hundreds of anti-Semitic threats against a Jewish woman and her family, a federal judge ruled Wednesday.
U.S. District Judge Dana Christensen’s decision allows Tanya Gersh’s lawsuit against The Daily Stormer publisher Andrew Anglin to proceed on claims that Anglin invaded her privacy, inflicted emotional distress on her and her family and violated Montana’s anti-intimidation law.
Anglin accused Gersh, a real-estate agent in the Montana resort town of Whitefish, of seeking to force the mother of white nationalist Richard Spencer to leave town in 2016 by trying to persuade her to sell her commercial property. Anglin published the phone numbers, email addresses and social media profiles of Gersh, her husband and 12-year-old son and wrote, “Are y’all ready for an old fashioned troll storm?”
Gersh said her family received more than 700 threatening and harassing messages, many of them anti-Semitic, online and by phone and mail. ... Anglin argued that the First Amendment protects his speech and that he can’t be held liable for his followers’ actions. Gersh’s attorneys responded that the First Amendment was never meant to protect a campaign that aimed to destroy people’s lives. ... Christensen said Anglin’s speech against Gersh appeared to be a matter of private concern, not public concern, and that opens him to more regulation.
....
1 replies
= new reply since forum marked as read
= new reply since forum marked as read
