COURT LIFTS GAG ORDER: FREE SPEECH VICTORY FOR INTERNET

Public Documents on the Internet Are Protected
For Immediate Release: September 8, 2000

In a victory for free speech on the Internet, on September 13th the Alpine County Superior Court vacated a "gag" order that required all public court documents to be taken down from a controversial website. The Superior Court's action came in response to a ruling last month by the Third District Court of Appeal agreeing to review the constitutionality of the gag order unless it was vacated by the Superior Court.

"We are extremely pleased that the court has vacated its order" said Ann Brick, staff attorney with the ACLU of Northern California, which filed an amicus curiae brief in the Court of Appeal in support of the Hoelschers' bid to have the gag order lifted. "It is extremely important that public discourse on matters as important as these not be limited. All of the documents affected by the order were available to anyone who asked to see them at the courthouse. The website simply opened the courthouse door to the rest of the world."

The dispute over the website began shortly after Karl Hoelscher put the site up in 1997, after his wife, Judy Komaroni Hoelscher, was sentenced to four months in jail as the result of a car chase with police. The website, www.smalltownjustice.com, was highly critical of both the CHP officer who conducted the arrest and the manner in which the judicial system dealt with her case.

When the CHP officer, Gregory Mason, and his wife sued the Hoelschers for libel and invasion of privacy, the Hoelschers began posting documents filed in the case on their website. At the Masons' urging, the Alpine Superior Court issued a "gag" order on April 28, 2000 ordering the Hoelschers to remove all the of the court filings in the case from the website. The Hoelschers then asked the Court of Appeal to overturn the order.

"The result in this case reaffirms that individuals who publish web sites are entitled to the same full First Amendment protections for their Internet speech as the traditional media receive for their publications," said Roger Myers, a partner with Steinhart & Falconer, who with associate Rachel Boehm prepared the amicus brief in support of the Hoelschers. "One of the wonders of the Internet is that it gives every individual with a computer the ability to be heard on issues fundamental to democracy, such as how the courts and the police are handling a given case."

"The gag order would have dramatically limited Internet speech on these issues," added Myers, "by allowing courts to prevent websites from publishing court documents critical of law enforcement or the judicial system, which is one reason it was so important to have the order vacated."