Bloggers Jailed
The open letter to the scofflaws of the web in Google Bomb refers to imprisonment as a potential implication of getting involved in online defamation. Some countries make defamation a criminal offense. Not so in the United States. Some have questioned how bloggers could be jailed for defamation. They are jailed for contempt of court for failing to follow an order of the Court. All too often bloggers refuse to participate, ignore the Court, ignore the rules, and act as if they are above the law. This attitude is clear in their postings, and sometimes it carries over into a contempt for the rule of law. Case in point:
Bloggers faced with lawsuits are finding the inside of jail cells more and more often for failing to abide by an order of a Court. In May a blogger was jailed for contempt of court for claiming her computer, ordered by the Court to be turned over, had been lost in a home burglary. In the same case, a second blogger has now been jailed for failing to turn over her computer. Both of these bloggers are defendants in a defamation lawsuit filed by Anna Nicole Smith’s mother. The case is pending in state court in Texas.
If you want to blog, and make statements that are not true, then be preparad for litigation. But when you get sued, you’ll find that walking away, ignoring the Judge, and refusing to cooperate in the case could have dire consequences. Like fingerprinting, mug shots, jail time, and a criminal arrest record. Even if you are not found guilty by the Judge of contempt of court. That’s something you won’t hear from the free speech extremist lawyers and attorneys working for the “consumer rights groups” who encourage evidence destruction and ridicule Judges and the judicial system. And where are these lawyers when their constituents get in trouble? Nowhere to be found.
Anatomy Of A Google Bomb, Are Citizen Journalists Either?, Obfuscate Aggregate & Delete, The Limestone Theory | admin
