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Don't criticize judges

Another judge exhibits his view that First Amendment protections don't apply to publicity of his own bias or rotten orders, according to a NewsBytes article. 69-year-old Paul Trummel has been in jail for over a month on contempt of court charges because he published criticism of a nursing home where he lived.

He had gone to court last year to stop the home's owners from interfering with him distributing his critical newsletter, but the judge apparently decided he did not like Trummel and volunteered an injunction against him. That's "prior restraint," and except in extraordinary circumstances it's unconstitutional. You can say whatever you like but you may be held responsible for damages if it was untrue or defamatory. The courts can't block it because it might be untrue; there has to be a fair trial.

Trummel posted his criticisms on a Web site, and the judge ordered him to take them down, again with no trial. Trummel responded, apparently, by putting many of them up again on a Web site hosted in Holland, over which the Seattle judge has no jurisdiction. The judge apparently doesn't like being told there are limits on his conduct as well as everyone else's, though, and ordered Trummel jailed until he takes down the Holland-based site. That is:

  • Prior restraint
  • Out of his jurisdiction
  • An unconstitutional punishment because Trummel obviously can't take down the Web site from jail where he has no Internet access

(There's an argument that he could order his attorney to take down the site, but contempt orders really aren't supposed to require that other people do anything to end them.)

What's more, in jail, Trummel is denied access to supplements for his arthritis and prostate problems, and has now contracted tuberculosis (a virulent problem in many US jails and prisons). The judge has scheduled no hearings or any proceedings that might cause him to question his defective judgement.

The Society of Professional Journalists and the British Government (Trummel is a British citizen and permanent resident alien) are trying to get the judge to do something radical like, I don't know, obey the law. Good luck to them. (via Media Unspun)

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