City councilman threatens to sue reporter for using his name "without authorization"

Parent Cafe
1

A councilman took issue when a reporter wrote a story which made references to him.

http://www.cnn.com/2015/01/07/us/us-paper-responds-to-councilman/index.html

Here is the text of the newspaper’s response to his threats to take legal action:

http://www.fredericknewspost.com/news/politics_and_government/kirby-delauter-kirby-delauter-kirby-delauter/article_da85d6f4-fa3c-524f-bbf6-8e5ddc0d1c0a.html

Some of the commenters thought that the newspaper’s response was “childish,” but most thought it was hilarious.

2

The events today in France are what happens when people don’t get how free speech works. What a boob.

3

^^^Yeah, at least this guy didn’t threaten violence.

4

But a clueless bully just the same.

5

Thanks! This is going to appear on a midterm this semester for my media ethics students…

6

I have been following this story closely. The response by the newspaper is one of the best things I’ve ever read.

It amazes me how far some politicians’ heads are up their ahems

7

If I hadn’t known in advance, I don’t think I would have picked up on the fact that each paragraph started with a letter from his name, spelling it all out in its entirety.

I’d like to think I would, but…not so sure.

8

I hate that I didn’t see that!

9

A judge in Maine at the behest of well-connected people involved in a case ordered the news not to quote from testimony. The newspaper spoke to a lawyer and of course quoted from the testimony because courts are not secret tribunals.

10

@Lergnom‌ - They can do that in special circumstances, right? Like if there is a minor involved? (Sorry, OT, just curious.)

11

State laws vary on this a tiny amount but in general the decision not to publish the name of a minor is going to be the newspaper’s decision and they publish minor’s names all the time without anyone’s consent. Think about school sports or academic contests or nice days in the park, or whatever. If it’s a major crime such as a school shooting you are going to see the kid’s name all over the place. Robbing a liquor store probably not but that is also a who cares situation… If the minor speaks at a city council meeting his name goes in the story. Sometimes, official testimony is redacted for any number of reasons often involving the preservation of evidence in the event of a future prosecution and whole chunks can be blacked out, not just names but that is not going to work if it happens in a public courtroom because, it’s public.

This gentleman sounds like a nutcase.

12

I can"t find the actual citation, but I think the Maine article involved an embarrassing affair of some kind, not children.

13

Well, at least the guy had the grace to announce he was wrong. Lots of people wouldn’t have done that. I suspect he got some pressure from someone higher up to do so, though.

14

Good for him for admitting that he was wrong. No doubt fifty of his closest and dearest friends took him aside and explained to him that he was completely in the wrong and was making a laughingstock of himself, but still, he did admit he was wrong.

15

On his Facebook page he specifically apologized to the reporter he’d gone after.

16

Thanks to the OP for posting this. I had a good chuckle reading this.

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True some people seem to equate admitting they are wrong with death by torture, so one has to give him that.

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Even a liberal nutcase like me has to give the politician credit for a good apology.

19

I wonder if the City councilman had followed through on his threat, would the reporter and the paper have grounds to launch a countersuit on anti-SLAPP grounds?