First Amendment Archives - Randazza Legal Group

Volokh Takedown Order

For First Amendment enthusiasts, Professor Eugene Volokh likely does not require an introduction, but doing so adds to the irony of a recent court order that purported to require him, a non-party to the case, to delete or take down articles reporting on a Florida property case. Professor Volokh is a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University and a UCLA School of Law emeritus law professor. He frequently provides legal and political commentary for The Volokh Conspiracy, including discussions of First Amendment issues.

Steubenville Rape Case – Saltzman v. Goddard

In 2012, citizen journalist Alexandria Goddard wrote a series of blog posts discussing a rape that took place in Steubenville, Ohio. In addition to writing about the high school football players who were charged and later convicted of the rape of a 16-year-old female classmate, Goddard also discussed the social media posts of another football player, Cody Saltsman.

Worthley v. City of Gloucester

In this case, Jeff Worthley filed a lawsuit against the School Committee of Gloucester and Superintendent Ben Lummis in Massachusetts Superior Court. However, the case was moved to the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts.

Vital Vegas v. Sahara

Scott Roeben, the owner of Vital Vegas blog, wrote an article about Sahara Las Vegas possibly facing financial difficulties during the pandemic. Roeben disclosed that the rumors were unverified, and he could be wrong. Sahara Las Vegas then sued Roeben for defamation. Roeben filed a special motion to dismiss under Nevada’s Anti-SLAPP statute and proved that his article was on a public issue and that he did not know of any false statements.

Vermin Supreme v. Concord NH

Vermin Supreme wanted to protest Hillary Clinton’s book signing event outside of a bookstore using two ponies, but the Defendants denied him a permit to do so. In response, Mr. Supreme sued the Defendants under the First and Fourteenth Amendments of the US Constitution and Articles 15 and 22 of the New Hampshire Constitution.

Turtleboy RI

Turtleboy was sued in Rhode Island state court for harassment under Rhode Island state law because of some news articles he wrote about Ashley St. Angelo. However, Turtleboy decided to move the case to federal court in Rhode Island and then filed a motion to dismiss the case for lack of personal jurisdiction.

TGP Maxwell

In this case, TGP (The Gateway Pundit) requested to intervene and unseal the Epstein client list in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. However, the District Court denied the motion on the grounds that TGP’s request was not made in a timely manner and that TGP’s interests were already represented by existing parties and intervenors.

TGP v. Maricopa

In this case, Maricopa County had a strained relationship with The Gateway Pundit (TGP) and its reporter, Jordan Conrad, due to their prior reporting leading to the resignation of a Maricopa county official. During the 2022 election, Maricopa County instituted a “press pass” policy claiming it was to protect county officials. However, Maricopa used the vague guidelines to exclude TGP and Conradson, alleging they were “biased” and not “quality journalism.”

DePina v. Rachel Rollins, the Boston Police Dep’t, and the Worcester County District Attorney.

In this case, Worcester DAs Office prosecuted DePina for violating G.L. c. 26, § 13B based on DePina heckling Suffolk County DA Rachael Rollins during a televised press conference. The charge alleged that DePina’s heckling incorporated reference to the three criminal cases pending against him that the Suffolk County DA’s Office was prosecuting. The entire incident was on video.

Cornelia

Spencer Cornelia operates a YouTube channel where he, among other things, examines various kinds of online lifestyle and moneymaking “gurus” who charge often huge amounts of money for a nebulous product. In late 2020, Cornelia received requests to do a video on financial “guru” Derek Moneyberg (real name Dale Buczkowski), who also had a reputation as a dating coach for the company Real Social Dynamics.

Church Militant

Church Militant is a non-profit media company and advocacy organization that supports reform within the Catholic Church. In 2021, it sought to lease the City of Baltimore’s event venue for a prayer rally in protest of the meeting of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops which would be taking place nearby.

Berge v. Gloucester School Committee

Berge went to the school superintendent’s office to inquire about tickets to a school play. He was neither rude nor vulgar and held his camera in plain view, announced he was recording, and announced that he was a “citizen journalist” doing a story on the issue. (link to video) Two of the three employees filmed did not wish to be filmed. However, after a lengthy conversation with an official who appeared to have no objection to being filmed, Berge politely left.

First Amendment

Volokh Takedown Order

Steubenville Rape Case – Saltzman v. Goddard

Worthley v. City of Gloucester

Vital Vegas v. Sahara

Vermin Supreme v. Concord NH

Turtleboy RI

TGP Maxwell

TGP v. Maricopa

DePina v. Rachel Rollins, the Boston Police Dep’t, and the Worcester County District Attorney.

Cornelia

Church Militant

Berge v. Gloucester School Committee

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