Mayor Says Stepdaughter Mystery Blogger
North Country Gazette
________________
Smyrna, Delaware (US):
In October, the Delaware Supreme Court issued a landmark ruling that an Internet service provider doesn't have to disclose the identity of an anonymous blogger who posts alleged defamatory comments about an elected official on the Internet on a blog operated by a newspaper.
The court held that the free speech rights of anonymous bloggers outweighed Cahill's argument that he was defamed.An anonymous blogger who identified themselves only as "Proud Citizen" and several other screen names posted comments on a blog, targeting town councilman Patrick Cahill. The blogger(s) engaged in a serious of obscene tirades including Cahill's "obvious mental deterioration" and made crude references to the ongoing feud that Cahill and his wife have with their next door neighbor, Mayor Schaeffer.
When Cahill filed a defamation case against Schaeffer, his wife and their 25-year-old stepdaughter, the mayor steadily denied that anyone in his household had anything to do with the postings.But now the mayor says that his stepdaughter, Christina Rawley, is the poster. He said he and his wife will ask to be removed as defendants in the case which would leave only Rawley. He said Rawley had denied that she was involved until she was named as a defendant last fall in the defamation suit.
Feb 05, 2006
North Country Gazette
________________
Smyrna, Delaware (US):
In October, the Delaware Supreme Court issued a landmark ruling that an Internet service provider doesn't have to disclose the identity of an anonymous blogger who posts alleged defamatory comments about an elected official on the Internet on a blog operated by a newspaper.
The court held that the free speech rights of anonymous bloggers outweighed Cahill's argument that he was defamed.An anonymous blogger who identified themselves only as "Proud Citizen" and several other screen names posted comments on a blog, targeting town councilman Patrick Cahill. The blogger(s) engaged in a serious of obscene tirades including Cahill's "obvious mental deterioration" and made crude references to the ongoing feud that Cahill and his wife have with their next door neighbor, Mayor Schaeffer.
When Cahill filed a defamation case against Schaeffer, his wife and their 25-year-old stepdaughter, the mayor steadily denied that anyone in his household had anything to do with the postings.But now the mayor says that his stepdaughter, Christina Rawley, is the poster. He said he and his wife will ask to be removed as defendants in the case which would leave only Rawley. He said Rawley had denied that she was involved until she was named as a defendant last fall in the defamation suit.
Feb 05, 2006
