Chief Webster Throws Me Out Of A Public Press Conference In A Public Building While Being A Public Official

Perhaps Barrie Tilghman and Chief Webster weren't privy to the following? More to come.....

http://www.aclupa.org/pressroom/suitagainstwashingtoncount.htm

Suit Against Washington County, PA Police Chief over Harassment of Internet Critics Settled

Release: Immediately, January 24, 2006

More information on case, including legal documents

Pittsburgh: The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) – Greater Pittsburgh Chapter has reached a settlement with a Washington County municipality and its suspended Chief of Police that will ensure the freedom of residents to debate political issues on a local website without fear of retaliation from local authorities.

“In the Supreme Court’s words, ‘it is a prized American privilege to speak one's mind, although not always with perfect good taste, on all public institutions and this opportunity is to be afforded for ‘vigorous advocacy’ no less than ‘abstract discussion,’” said Witold Walczak, ACLU of Pennsylvania Legal Director. “Just because a police chief or other public official doesn’t like what is being said about them on an in Internet bulletin board doesn’t give them license to use official powers to threaten and intimidate critics, or take steps to shut down the website,” cautioned Walczak. “As the saying goes, if you can’t stand the heat get out of the kitchen.”

The settlement arises out of a lawsuit filed by the ACLU in 2004, charging that North Franklin Township police chief Mark Kavakich had attempted to use criminal subpoenas to learn the identities of residents who had criticized him on a website known as “localscoop” (www.localscoop.net). The suit also charged that Kavakich, who has since been suspended from the North Franklin police department pending an investigation of unspecified conduct, had threatened to arrest those who refused to cooperate with his investigation of the online critics.

Localscoop.net is an Internet community forum created and run by Terri and Munir Chavla of North Franklin, who were plaintiffs in the federal lawsuit.

The settlement announced today includes a consent order that extends and strengthens an original temporary restraining order that had been entered by consent at the outset of the case. The two-page original temporary restraining order prohibited the North Franklin police from threatening to use criminal proceedings against critics on the website. The four-page final order recently agreed to by the parties, and signed this morning by United States District Judge Joy Flowers Conti, expands on these restrictions as well as prohibiting other kinds of harassing tactics, such as confronting critics in their homes, or threatening to reveal their identities to their employers or others.

Terri Chavla said she hopes “that this police chief now understands that he cannot criminally prosecute people for merely posting their opinions.”
As part of the settlement, North Franklin Township also agreed to pay the sum of $42,000.00 to the Chavlas and their lawyers.

Walczak raised concerns about police intimidation and threats made against critics on the Internet. He noted that police officials need to pay more careful attention to the constitutional limits on their authority to investigate those critical of police activities. “It is not an issue for the police when an Internet poster says something nasty about someone else, even if what they say is false and defamatory,” said Walczak. He added that the victim can file a defamation suit, but the police have no business in the matter.

In addition to the Washington County case, the ACLU signed a court agreement in late December with the Pennsylvania State Police over a situation where an officer convinced a web host to shut down a Scranton couple’s political website after they criticized a Scranton official. That case, which is pending in federal court in Scranton, is Pilchesky v. Pennsylvania State Police. More information can be found about that and the Chavla case at www.aclupa.org.

The Chavlas were represented by Walczak and ACLU cooperating attorney Ronald Barber of the Pittsburgh law firm Strassburger, McKenna, Gutnick & Potter. The case is Chavla v. Kavakich, 04-CV-0594 (W.D.Pa., Conti, J.). A copy of the complaint and both the original and final consent orders can be found at www.aclupa.org.