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Defending the use of the web for grassroots organizing.....
From: Dave Farber <dave () farber net>
Date: Tue, 10 Jun 2003 15:45:11 -0400
------ Forwarded Message From: Paul Levy <PLEVY () citizen org> Date: Tue, 10 Jun 2003 15:34:52 -0400 To: dave () farber net Subject: Defending the use of the web for grassroots organizing..... We have just filed a motion to dismiss the lawsuit brought by Talk Radio Network against Thomas Leavitt and his wife Gunilla, over the web site on which they attack the crude bigotry of Michael Savage and urge listeners to vote with the consumer dollars, by urging advertisers to deny financial support for his nastiness. The lawsuit represents an attack on a fundamental weapon that citizens of this country have always had, to organize themselves privately to use their joint financial clout to discourage their political or cultural adversaries. From the NAACP to the Parents Television Network, from the Concerned Women of America urging politics-sensitive investing to the National Organization for Women boycotting states that have not the ERA, from unions to chambers commerce, private groups have had the ability to appeal to the public to support their causes through their consumer spending. The lawsuit brought against the Leavitts treats such efforts as a tort against which an injunction may be obtained suppressing the speech, and and based on which hundred of thousands of dollars in damages may be awarded. We see the proper response to web sites with which one disagrees as being the establishment of other web sites, or other efforts to win the hearts and pocketbooks of the public through the marketplace of ideas. The lawsuit is a dangerous attack on free speech and we intend to stop it. We understand that one of the other defendants, Julie Swigart of takebackthemedia, will be separately represented. It is not clear that the third defendant, the anonymous author of the michaelsavagesucks web site, has been served. A URL for the brief on our web site is at the end of the following press release. For Immediate Release: Contact: Paul Alan Levy (202) 588-1000 June 10, 2003 Angela Bradbery (202) 588-7741 Web Site's Call for Boycott of Companies Advertising on Right-Wing Talk Show Is Protected by First Amendment Oregon Talk Radio Syndicator's Suit Should Be Dismissed, Public Citizen Tells Illinois Court WASHINGTON, D.C. - A Web site that urges people to boycott companies that advertise on a right-wing radio show is protected by the First Amendment, and attempts to shut it down should be dismissed, Public Citizen told a court today. In a brief filed in U.S. District Court in the Northern District of Illinois, Public Citizen listed a host of reasons why a lawsuit filed by Talk Radio Network of Grants Pass, Ore., should be dismissed. The suit was filed against four people who operate three Web sites critical of a right-wing radio host named Michael Savage. Public Citizen is representing two of those, Thomas and Gunilla Leavitt of Santa Cruz, Calif., who created www.savagestupidity.com. The site criticizes offensive and bigoted comments made by Savage, who rails against African-Americans, Hispanics, Jewish liberals, women, gays, liberals and a variety of other groups on his show, the "Savage Nation." The Web site also has audio clips from the show and calls for the public to write letters to Savage's advertisers and urge them to withdraw their support form his program. The Web site also threatens to boycott advertisers who continue to support Savage. Talk Radio Network sued on May 12, alleging that the defendants are running commercial Web sites that make false and malicious statements about Savage and attempt to interfere with Talk Radio Network's relationships with advertisers, specifically Culligan, an Illinois-based company. The suit asks the court to shut down the Web sites and have the operators pay several hundred thousand dollars in damages. "Urging a boycott is a time-honored action that has long been protected under the First Amendment," said Paul Alan Levy, an attorney with Public Citizen who is defending the Leavitts. "The claim that this is interfering in a business relationship is ludicrous. If Talk Radio Network were to prevail on that claim, it would effectively turn off a vital spigot of speech in this country." Much is wrong with the claims in the suit, Levy wrote. First, they were filed in the wrong court. The Leavitts live in California and have no relationship to Illinois, where Culligan is based. An Illinois court's interest in protecting Talk Radio Network from two Californians' exercise of their First Amendment Rights is slim. Second, Talk Radio Network claims that statements on the Web site are false, but that claim can't be justified. Savage is a public figure, and under established legal principles, to libel a public figure, one must not only make false statements but must do so with a reckless disregard for the truth. In this case, the Leavitts are expressing their opinion about Savage, and the statements they make about him are to their knowledge true. Further, because Talk Radio Network is the party suing, the company must show that the site says something false about the company; however, nothing like that is alleged in the lawsuit. Third, the suit alleges that the Leavitts have wrongfully placed copies of Savage's recordings on their Web site, which appears to be a claim for copyright violation. However, the U.S. Supreme Court has repeatedly made clear that such a "fair use" of material is protected under the First Amendment. "The Leavitts have every right to criticize Savage and urge people to boycott his advertisers," Levy said. "This is the wrong suit, filed in the wrong place. It should be dismissed." David Bradford and David Layden of the Chicago-based law firm of Jenner & Block, LLC will be joining Public Citizen in representing the defendants. A copy of the brief is posted on the Web at http://www.citizen.org/documents/leavitt%20dismiss%20memo.pdf. ### Public Citizen is a national, nonprofit consumer advocacy organization based in Washington, D.C. For more information, please visit www.citizen.org. Paul Alan Levy Public Citizen Litigation Group 1600 - 20th Street, N.W. Washington, D.C. 20009 (202) 588-1000 http://www.citizen.org/litigation/litigation.html ------ End of Forwarded Message ------------------------------------- You are subscribed as interesting-people () lists elistx com To manage your subscription, go to http://v2.listbox.com/member/?listname=ip Archives at: http://www.interesting-people.org/archives/interesting-people/
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