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Newsletter
| Subpoena violates First Amendment rights of anonymous commenters |
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| U.S. Constitution - Our Freedom |
| Written by idoxlr8 |
| Wednesday, 17 June 2009 05:50 |
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WorldNetDaily A federal prosecutor in Nevada is trying to get the names, telephone numbers, IP addresses and possibly even the credit card numbers of newspaper readers who participated in a forum about a tax protest case. According to an Associated Press report in the Reno Gazette Journal, the recent subpoena issued to the Las Vegas Review-Journal doesn't explain the reasoning for the request from the U.S. attorney's office, but in an open court hearing before Judge David Ezra it was confirmed prosecutors sought the information because of "hinted" acts of violence. According to the AP report, newspaper Editor Thomas Mitchell said he would contest the demand which was delivered to the paper about June 2, although he said the newspaper would cooperate if specific threats were presented. The comments on the newspaper's site concerned a case against Robert Kahre, who faces accusations he paid workers with gold U.S. coins worth hundreds or thousands of dollars but paid taxes on the coin's face value of $20 and the like.
 Free Speech Even Online Comments Count One forum participant suggested that the "12 dummies on the jury" … "should be hung along with the feds." The vitriol between Kahre and the prosecutor's office dates back to the 2003 raid on Kahre's business. Kahre and several workers later sued prosecutors in a civil case, which remains pending. A worried reader said, "It's starting guys!! Soon we will not be able to post our opinions, unless we create new accounts with fictional e-mail addresses or the Feds may subpoena RGJ next. Almost forgot, better use a library computer and not your home IP." The ACLU of Nevada was outraged, posting a comment on the same forum: "In the ACLU of Nevada's view, the subpoena violates the important First Amendment rights of anonymous commenters. We at the ACLU of Nevada have always fought for the fundamental right to engage in anonymous political speech and we want to protect the rights of anonymous commenters." Add your comment        
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| Last Updated on Monday, 14 September 2009 08:01 |