Score One for Alan Kluger!

 
As you know, we have been covering the case between Alan Kluger and Marc Randazza over an anonymous blogger and her dispute with a wealthy local developer.

Carlos Miller and Random Pixels have been writing about the controversy as well.

In the state court action before Judge Leesfield (there is also federal litigation before Judge King), Alan won a big victory for his client:  an expansive preliminary injunction order that purports to enjoin "defamatory" blogging, stalking and tortious interference.

Although the Court notes that she made no findings of fact and that a trial on the defamation claim will be held in the future, Judge Leesfield nonetheless ordered the defendant "not to enter defamatory blogs in the future."

Question -- how will the defendant know in advance whether a blog entry is possibly defamatory or not?

Over to you, 3d DCA!

Kluger v. Randazza!

 
And Carlos Miller has the video.

Random Pixels adds his $.02.

This is like an internet party!

(To be fair, people do make mistakes sometimes.)

Props to Judge Leesfield for putting the issue of cameras in the courtroom to bed quickly and efficiently (and correctly).

She will make a GREAT mediator.

BTW, in the related federal case, Judge King just denied a joint motion for protective order, noting the SD FL's liberality when it comes to public records and public proceedings:

In addition, the parties elected to seek (and defend) relief in a publicly operated forum, namely the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida. The proceedings held in federal and state courts are open to public observation by any interested party. Pursuant to Local Rule 5.4 for the Southern District of Florida, absent some extraordinary need for secrecy, the judicial acts performed should be open to public scrutiny.

The Court finds that the parties have not shown good cause to justify their desire for secrecy. Therefore, the Court cannot, and does not, approve the motion for protective order.

Now when can we have cameras in federal court?

Your Monday Morning Digital Dump!

 Hi kids, ready to kick the day into high gear?

Here's a potpourri of South Florida legal news to get you angry motivated:

1.  Terence Connor, dog neighbor, gets his case dismissed:

“This case was dropped after the woman who owned the dogs asked that we drop the . . .  case,” a spokesman for the state attorney told the website randompixels. “She indicated that she did not wish to proceed further and felt that this matter was basically a misunderstanding between neighbors that had gotten out of hand.

“Since she would have to play an essential role in any prosecution, we followed her wishes and dropped the case.”

Beatriz Llorente, Connor’s lawyer, declined to comment about the reasons for the latest development.

Said Connor’s alleged victim, University of Miami student Andrea Lopez: “I just wanted it to go away!”

I'm sure you're not the only one!

2.  Speaking of labor law, there are a lot of cases out there nowadays.

Oh hail, I just want to say hi to Kelly Amritt!

3.  Ervin Gonzalez happens.

4.  Florida's efforts to purge voters are a crock of #$$I:

When Miami attorney Lida Rodriguez-Taseff reached out to potential clients to challenge Governor Rick Scott's purge of noncitizens from Florida's election rolls, she says she found the opposition had gotten to them first.

She asked Miami-Dade County resident Maria Bustamante to join the litigation. Bustamante had been named on a statewide voter purge list even though she was a naturalized U.S. citizen from Colombia.

Bustamante, who became a citizen in 2006 and voted in 2008, wanted nothing to do with any lawsuit. She was afraid of being targeted after receiving a telephone call informing her she was ineligible to vote.

"The people on the list got calls," Rodriguez-Taseff said. "I talked to several people on the list who got calls from people who said, 'You are on this list. You are not allowed to vote.' They said, 'Yes I am," and they said, 'No you're not, fax me your papers.' Can you imagine?"

Grass roots groups, such as Texas-based True the Vote -- which supports the noncitizen voter purge -- denied targeting people over the phone.

Rodriguez-Taseff, a partner at Duane Morris in Miami, is affiliated with four nonpartisan civil rights groups battling what many voting rights activists and Democrats believe is an unprecedented effort to suppress the vote across the nation in a presidential election year.

 Thank you Lida!

5.   No surprise, but Rick Scott wants to get rid of some pesky Florida Supreme Court Justices:

Last year, with the tacit approval of Scott, Republican Speaker of the House Dean Cannon tried to dilute the power of the Florida Supreme Court by splitting it into two divisions. He also proposed increasing the minimum percentages of “yes” votes required for justices to remain on the bench under the current judicial merit retention system.

Both the split and the vote-percentage increase attempts failed. But a right-wing Florida non-profit corporation named Restore Justice 2012 has popped up in Orlando with an agenda that would suit Scott just fine — a campaign to oust moderate Florida Supreme Court Justices Fred Lewis, Barbara Pariente and Peggy Quince in their upcoming November 2012 retention vote for what it terms their continual pattern of “judicial activism.”

And how is your morning?

It's Here, It's Here, It's Finally Here!!!

Hoo boy I feel like a kid who opened up his Hanukkah present two months early and -- instead of some slacks and a nice belt -- found a bottle of Malaccan gin and Bo Derek holding two glasses and wearing nothing but a smile and some windsurfing gear.

Wow that got a little weird, I better start again.

Blogger extraordinaire Random Pixels (who is a pretty darn good photographer too) was at the Gerald Posner book reading the other night and came across a furry, bespectacled curmudgeon wearing what looks like a umpire outfit stolen from a local South American soccer league.

It turned out to be human, and -- to my unceasing delight and amazement -- Glenn Garvin.

You can tell Bill is an excellent photographer because he actually manages to make his subject look sympathetic and personable, which evidently disproves that old adage about polishing very small objects.

Nice work!

D'oh!

Have you seen this letter sent to local blogger Random Pixels by GT attorney Ian Ballon on behalf of his client the Miami Herald?

I guess the Herald is upset over whether or not photos from their website are reproduced on blogs in thumbnail or "full-size"?

As if that determines whether or not the photos fall within the protections of the fair use doctrine?

Here is Ian's contention:

"Because fair use looks to the amount and substantiality of the portion taken (both in terms of quality and quantity), reproducing entire articles, large excerpts of articles or large-size photos is not permitted."

This sweeping generalization -- with no context and zero case citation -- is almost certainly wrong.

This is one of those examples where, as a lawyer, you have to talk to your client. Is it in your best interests to go after some local blogger for posting a picture? Is that really what you want your resources and attention focused on? Even if you had a colorable argument, is it a fight that is in your best interests to pursue?

(Though I appreciate that Ian's letter is somewhat restrained and not as dickwaddy as it could have been, I still would have advised against it).

My advice here would be, for the most part, to ignore Ian's letter. If there are "copies of entire articles" on his blog (which I understand are simply historical in nature and not lifted from the Herald online archives), I would edit them slightly so you are in compliance with Ian's demand.

The balance of the letter is wishy-washy and doesn't really require any further action, so I wouldn't take any.

Ian, I just gotta know something -- did Glenn Garvin put you up to this?