SLAPP?

Bill Peduto claims that the lawsuit Lamar Advertising filed against him and his fellow Councilmen Shields, Burgess, Kraus, and Dowd was a SLAPP. He seems to suggest the city law department opinion about their legal expenses has the sting of a SLAPP, too.

What's a SLAPP?

I didn't recall the term, but apparently SLAPPs have a long and contentious history.

SLAPP stands for "Strategic lawsuit against public participation".


Wikipedia defines it as:

"a form of litigation frequently filed by organizations or individuals to intimidate and silence critics or opponents by burdening them with the cost of a legal defense so that they abandon their criticism or opposition."

California passed a law to protect against SLAPPs. So have more than two dozen other states. That includes Pennsylvania, though our state's has been described as a "significantly weakened version passed into law in 2000." It was designed to deal only with environmental law cases, and reportedly was passed "after a coal baron sued an elderly constituent for filing a complaint with the state’s Department of Environmental Protection when her home suffered acid mine-water damage."

That's from this article in Philly area newspaper that quotes a critic complaining that a court ruling created "an unduly narrow interpretation that destroys any value or purpose of the statute."

It seems that SLAPPs are an international phenomenon. Here' s a YouTube video report by CUTV. Concordia University Television is Canada's oldest student-run television station. I'm linking to it here for some interesting background. As they say on the DVD extras, this is for entertainment purposes only, and does not necessarily reflect the views, etc.




Here are some PG articles in which the term "SLAPP" appears.

Developers sue Franklin Park, residents for losses
Suit cites neighbors' 'frivolous objections' to townhouse plan


The dash to SLAPP is chilling


Judge drops neighbors from townhouse lawsuit

Meanwhile, I ran into Lamar Advertising's attorney Sam Kamin as I was leaving the City County Building after Tuesday's council meeting. He told me he had just finished dictating the court filing to withdraw Lamar's lawsuit against the city council members, as agreed to in the arrangement signed before the zoning board.

A check of the county court's website shows that the lawsuit has now been "Discontinued without Prejudice".

What the significance there is (if any) of the lawsuit being discontinued "without prejudice" in this case, I do not know.

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Google Mapping The News

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The image above is from Google Maps' street view of the scene of the deadly house explosion in Plum. It was e-mailed to me by crime blogger Steve Huff, who I first heard from a couple of years ago while covering the Brandi Dunn murder case.



Steve writes:

Hi Bob,

We've corresponded a bit in the past about some interesting cases in your area. I make a living with my writing and reporting now, but I still do plenty of blogging on my own. Today I grew interested in the house explosion in Plum, in part because such things are kind of rare. Thinking it probably wasn't crime related, I've written a personal blog entry about it here (I think of my blogs as "crime blogs" and just "personal blogs" where I write about whatever):

http://www.stevenhuff.net/archives/412

It's really just one angle on the story, still, it might be an angle that wouldn't occur to a lot of people. I just thought you'd find it interesting.

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No Blogs For You?

Update: You can see my Channel 4 Action News report on this here. I spoke with Mayor Ravenstahl, his Press Secretary Alecia Sirk, city CIS Director Howard Stern, and Bram Reichbaum of the Pittsburgh Comet. The city officials laid out their case for this website blocking being the result of an update of their previously installed computer security software, and not a new program targeting blogs by content. They were gracious about my "No Blogs For You" post which appears below. (Of course, given the blog-blocking software, they might not have read it yet.) Now, my original post:

The PG's Early Returns reports that City of Pittsburgh government employees are now blocked from reading many popular blogs dealing with local politics. It says "the city's Internet security provider, Websense Enterprise, recently updated its settings to eliminate access to "social networking and personal sites". That would appear to include this blog. City employees, please confirm, if you can?

The story prompted me to do some googling about government blocking of access to websites.

• It seems that China, Iran, and Uzbekistan are among more than two dozen countries now blocking web content, says the Economist.

Civil liberties: freedom of speech
The tongue twisters

"In a study of the internet in 40 countries (excluding Europe and the United States), OpenNet Initiative, an academic think-tank, says that censorship of the internet has spread from just a handful of countries five years ago to 26 nations. Some—notably China, Iran, Syria, Pakistan, Tunisia, Vietnam and Uzbekistan—are now blocking entire internet services such as YouTube, Skype and Google Maps."

• Defense News reports that the United States Government is trying to help free the flow of internet information to closed societies like China and Iran.

U.S. Launches Internet Anti-Censorship Effort

The U.S. Congress is funding a modest assault on the great firewall of China.
The newly approved budget for the U.S. State Department includes $15 million for developing “anti-censorship tools and services” which could help Internet users breach electronic firewalls set up by China, Iran and other “closed societies.”

• The Washington Post reports that a re-energized Kremlin is now getting into the act.

Kremlin Seeks To Extend Its Reach in Cyberspace
Pro-Government Sites Gain Influence

MOSCOW -- After ignoring the Internet for years to focus on controlling traditional media such as television and newspapers, the Kremlin and its allies are turning their attention to cyberspace, which remains a haven for critical reporting and vibrant discussion in Russia's dwindling public sphere.

Back to the PG's Early Returns:

City computer supercop Howard Stern said there was no conscious decision to block the blogs, and that the change in security settings came down, uninvited, from Websense. That said, he agrees with the new blog-proof city system.

"They're untrusted Web sites," he told us. They can transmit viruses, he said, "and that could knock out the whole city."

I'm happy to say that I've never gotten a virus from a blog. Perhaps the new city policy will inspire some "viral marketing"... but that's not anything that will hurt you or your computer.

I can certify that The Busman's Holiday is 100% virus-free.

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Prosecutor Jails News Execs, Wants Data On Website Readers

It happened in Arizona. This Associated Press story on the PG's website provides details:


• "The leaders of an alternative newspaper chain were arrested after running a story about grand jury subpoenas they received seeking reporters' notes and information on who visits their Phoenix weekly's Web site".

• "The subpoenas also seek online profiles of anyone who read four specific articles about (local County Sheriff) Arpaio and profiles of anyone who visited the paper's Web site since Jan. 1, 2004. Also sought was information on what Web users did while on the site, the story said."


Editor & Publisher quotes an Arizona Republic report:

• "The alternative weekly newspaper, in its cover story, said the subpoena was part of an investigation orchestrated to get back at its reporters and the critical stories they wrote of County Attorney Andrew Thomas' political ally Sheriff Joe Arpaio."


The New York Times adds this context and more details:

• "The special prosecutor had been appointed to look into allegations that the newspaper had violated the law in publishing the home address of Maricopa Sheriff Joe Arpaio’s home address on its website more than three years ago."

• "The weekly and its leadership has been in a long running battle with Mr. Arpaio, after the weekly published a series of stories about his real estate dealings."

“They did not have a warrant, but they told me that I was being arrested for unlawful disclosure of grand jury information,” Mr. Larkin said by phone from his home early this morning, after he was released from jail. Mr. Lacey remained in jail early this morning. Captain Paul Chagolla, a spokesman for the sheriff did not return a call for comment."

Here's link to the Village Voice account of what happened to its executives because of the story in its sister publication.

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Sirk On Blogging No More

Excerpts From An E-Mail Exchange:

From: Bob Mayo [Reporter, WTAE]
Sent: Monday, October 01, 2007 4:49 PM
To: Sirk, Alecia [Press Secretary, Mayor's Office]
Subject: Blog request

[ Excerpt ]

Would you be willing to send me an e-mail sharing your thoughts about your personal blogging and about what went into your decision now to stop?



From: "Sirk, Alecia"
Sent: 10/02/2007 02:17 PM AST
To: Bob Mayo
Subject: RE: Blog request

[Excerpt In Response ]

There’s not much to tell. I loved blogging and certainly had fun with it – I hope folks took it that way. On stopping? Not only do I not have time now, but people would certainly be reading things into it that weren’t my intent in posting, and that might hurt someone else. Don’t ever want to do that.

As has been said on the blogs around the City – who have made me feel so great with their kind posts and comments – it’s just the price of my current business – along with regular lunch hour!

Thanks for the inquiry,

A

Alecia Sirk
Press Secretary
Office of Mayor Luke Ravenstahl


When Dick Skrinjar was Mayor Ravenstahl's press secretary, I'd occasionally encourage him to consider taking up blogging. He never did, though I've sometimes wondered if that suggestion led indirectly to Councilman Jim Motznik's brief venture into the burghosphere that ended as abruptly as it began.



In response to my posts here, Skrinjar would sometimes (jokingly, I think) preface his comments to me with the question "now, is this for a blog or is this for a TV news story?"

By now, you've read on The Burgh Report and the PG's Early Returns that Alecia Sirk, who was named as Dick Skrinjar's successor, has given up her blog.

Sirk's "Love of Chair" vanished suddenly on Sunday evening, following a Post-Gazette profile of her husband, URA Director-designate Pat Ford. The online version of the PG story had added a link to her blog shortly before "Love of Chair" disappeared. Fragments remain in Google's caching of its contents. Early Returns' Rich Lord posted this farewell memorial.

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Resignation Letter Shockwaves...In San Francisco?

Another Mayor Is Cleaning House

"...Request for resignation letters has sent shock waves through City Hall".

This story is not about Pittsburgh. San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom is shaking things up in his city, too.

From the San Francisco Chronicle:

"Although he refused to say how many resignation letters he plans to accept, City Hall observers say the mayor is probably targeting a handful of individuals he wants to remove from their posts, but doesn't want to have to publicly fire".


There's more in this story about their mayor:

"...who is running for re-election in November but faces no serious political threat in the race, told department heads and commissioners in letters Monday that the request signals his desire to 'make bold changes in the coming term.'"


...and there's analysis in this editorial:

"...department heads, aides and commission appointees have until Friday to offer their resignations - and he'll decide which ones to accept."

You can check out Mayor Newsom's two letters here and here.

An Astrologer/Blogger there is blaming Pluto and a solar eclipse.


Meanwhile, there's a video online of my Channel 4 Action News story about Mayor Ravenstahl's city government shakeup. I can't provide a direct link, but one appears within this Pittsburgh Channel story.

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Googling David White, The Mayor's Choice

UPDATED: added quotes from Mayor Ravenstahl.

David White, Mayor Ravental's choice as Director of Public Affairs, has made news before--and for much more than being the mayor's athletic trainer at North Catholic High School . White has been UPMC's Community Relations Manager and also headed the 2005 Senior Olympics staged in Pittsburgh.


•Here's a 2004 Post-Gazette story (with a photo) profiling White as "The Force behind the Senior Games". It appeared as part of the paper's "annual Dozen Making A Difference, focusing on 12 people in our community who are working to improve our health".


•This Pittsburgh Business Times story from 2003 that describes his "enormous energy and talent" as "the point man for a major regional event".


•In 2005, a Tribune-Review reporter talked with White about the games' accomplishments under his leadership.


•A University Times item in 2003 also described his work at Pitt and his role in the Senior Games.


Mayor Ravenstahl describes White as a "longtime friend of mine of mine and my family's." The mayor says he "got to know him when I was in high school. And stayed very close with him, and was impressed with the work that he was able to achieve with the Senior Games."

Ravenstahl tells me that he is "very impressed with the work he did as a community relations manager with UPMC. And really felt it was a natural fit, in the transition from his work in UPMC in the private sector, to come over here in the mayor's office and work for me. I'm honored that he chose to walk away from UPMC, which is the largest employer in this region to come and work for my administration, and so I'm excited about the opportunity."

White's connection to the mayor dates back to Ravenstahl's high school education at North Catholic. "That's right. He was my athletic trainer in high school, yes. (He) got my off the injury table and back out onto the field as quickly as possible."

The mayor confirms that they've remained in touch over the years, sharing social contacts, including playing golf and running together. "He's been a close friend of mine and my family's, and when I would like to get away from the job, or spend some private time, he's always been a close friend of mine, and I think that's important to have. Somebody, and as many people as possibly can in your administration that you trust, that you know that are confidants of yours, and that's certainly what he is."

Ravenstahl also said that "as a result of his experience in the senior games and his work at UPMC, there are a lot of relationships in the Pittsburgh area that he was able to build over time. That will be helpful to me as well. This position is one that will be more interactive with the constituents of the City of Pittsburgh, whether that's neighborhood organizations and community groups, business leaders or business organizations, other governmental agencies." Ravenstahl says White "will be conduit and the sharer of information among all of those organizations."

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Redd Up Around The World

Pittsburgh's not alone in redding up. File this under things found while googling other things.

The Da Voar Redd Up is a spring cleanup that's been around for 20 years in Shetland.

Where's Shetland? Well, let's check the Shetlopedia. A link there tells us "Shetland is the most northerly Island group of Scotland."

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