Tulsa Topics

So what is SLAPP and why should you care? SLAPP is an acronym for "Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation." Wikipedia has a fairly good definition of this:

("SLAPP") is a form of litigation filed by a large organization or in some cases an individual plaintiff, to intimidate and silence a less powerful critic by so severely burdening them with the cost of a legal defense that they abandon their criticism. The acronym was coined in the 1980s by University of Denver professors Penelope Canan and George W. Pring.

In the not-so-distant past this heavy handed technique was attempted by the Tulsa Whirled against Michael Bates of BatesLine.com. Hot off the blog press is this breaking story that will be echoed across the blogosphere and probably picked up by the MSM (Main Stream Media), if it hasn't already. I was alerted to this story via the Media Bloggers Association (The same group that helped Michael Bates in his reply to the Whirled's SLAPP). Here's the MBA's complete post for your reading pleasure:

MBA Member Hit With Multi-Million Dollar Federal Lawsuit

MBA Member Lance Dutson who blogs at Maine Web Report was recently served with a lawsuit filed in the U.S. District Court in Maine. The lawsuit alleges copyright infringement and defamation for reporting and commentary written and published by Dutson on his blog.

"This case is nothing more than an attempt by a deep-pocketed litigant to bully a blogger for criticizing state officials and state contractors"", said MBA President Robert Cox. "We have successfully defended MBA members in nine previous cases and I don't expect the outcome here to be be any different."

Dutson went public this morning with news of the lawsuit and provided key links here including his account of the events leading up to the lawsuit and the complaint served on Dutson by the local sheriff at his home in Maine. Dutson has vowed to fight.

"The idea that criticism of the state government can be defamatory is absurd", said Dutson, "This attempt to bludgeon critics of the state government is not going to work."

Through it's legal defense initiative, the MBA provides member bloggers with "first line" legal defense, pro bono advice on how best to respond to legal threats related to the member's blog.

"Bloggers don't usually have an in-house legal department or high priced outside First Amendment counsel, but they're at least as likely to need one as any MSM outlet. That's where we come in," said MBA General Counsel, Ronald Coleman of the Coleman Law Firm.

Dutson has secured the services of Greg Herbert of Greenberg Traurig, a specialist in media law and First Amendment/defamation litigation and private attorney Jon Stanley. The MBA, through Coleman, will act as co-counsel.

Herbert noted, "Many of these cases, where a large corporation sues an individual for criticism over the internet, appear to be motivated, primarily, by an attempt to silence legitimate criticism and suppress speech."

In addition to providing pro bono, "first line" legal advice, the MBA seeks to raise awareness of attempts by governments and corporations to intimidate bloggers and citizen journalists by encouraging members to report such actions on their own blogs and encouraging all bloggers to carry the news throughout the blogosphere.

Link to Story: http://www.mediabloggers.org/archives/2006/04/mba_member_hit.php

If the Maine Department of Tourism wanted this to stay "under the radar" all hopes of that are now long gone. Fark.com picked up on this story and it's spreading like a grass fire here in Oklahoma.

I'm getting really tired of how the legal system is being used as a tool for the rich and influential against average citizens. Take for example Starbucks' recent scare tactics against DoubeShot Coffee Company, a great case-in-point of how a powerful corporation uses intimidation and scare tactics in an attempt to ruin the competition. A small business doesn't have a highly paid team of bored lawyers just itching to prove their worth to the upper echelon.

Another example of the influential "powers that be" making sure that the legal system is working in their favor would be the recent fiasco happening up in our State Capitol regarding local zoning and BoA issues. Homeowners for Fair Zoning has numerous entries regarding this issue at their website so I won't repeat what is already out there. Check out the info over at HFFZ.org!

Personally I think this legal "catch 22" needs to come to an end and quick. The longer this hijacking of our legal system is allowed to continue, the harder it will be for the average citizen to be afforded protection against the very system that should be protecting his rights. Justice should be blind and not a commodity for the few with high priced legal teams!