ACORN is now suing the whistleblowers who filmed it promoting underage prostitution for $2 million! And not just them, but also the conservative web site that made the video public. And it's demanding that the court issue an injunction to silence them all — even though that would be an unconstitutional prior restraint.
That’s a flagrant violation of the First Amendment, but the lawsuit was filed in state court in Baltimore, where the judges are very liberal, so who knows if ACORN’s lawsuit will be dismissed. Even if it is, the lawsuit will cost the whistleblowers thousands of dollars in lawyers’ bills. The liberal Baltimore City prosecutor has already expressed hostility to the whistleblowers who exposed ACORN’s wrongdoing, threatening to prosecute them under a state “privacy” law restricting audiotaping.
(Similar “privacy” laws in Massachusetts have been used to shield kidnappers calling in ransom demands, and police abusing motorists!).
I earlier discussed some of the First Amendment issues here. A commenter at National Review argued that the lawsuit is meritless even if you ignore the First Amendment.
(The Supreme Court has held that privacy lawsuits, and lawsuits in general, can’t be based on speech protected by the First Amendment, in cases like Bartnicki v. Vopper. That principle was extended by today's appeals court ruling in Snyder v. Phelps overturning a Maryland jury's $5 million damage award for "intrusion upon seclusion," and an earlier ruling limiting state audiotaping laws in Jean v. Massachusetts State Police (2007)).
The IRS just ended its controversial relationship with ACORN, which earlier had its housing funds cut-off by Congress over a recent child prostitution scandal, and is now embroiled in a tax evasion scandal.
ACORN has long received taxpayer money despite a history of financial fraud and voter registration fraud. ACORN helped spawn the mortgage crisis by promoting “liar loans.”
ACORN is a left-wing group that launched Obama’s career as a community organizer. He has long-standing ties to ACORN, and an ACORN affiliate received received $800,000 from Obama’s campaign. (Small wonder that Obama was rated the most liberal Senator by National Journal, and is, by any objective measure, the most left-wing president in American history).
ACORN stands to profit greatly from Obama’s financial-regulation proposals, which would strengthen the Community Reinvestment Act (The Community Reinvestment Act is extremely harmful to banks and prudent lending, pressuring banks to make risky, low-income loans).
ACORN affiliates would also likely profit from Obama’s health-care plan, which contains subsidies for community organizers. (ObamaCare also contains racial preferences criticized by the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights).
Obama’s health care plan would raise taxes, break promises, increase the deficit, destroy many inexpensive health-care plans, and take away important freedoms.
Comments
Yeah, who cares about some "law" anyway.
So the prosecutor has expressed hostility toward the people who have exposed this fraudulent group? What about the hostility of the American people who are tired of all this corruption in our government? This group flagrantly and fraudulently used our taxpayer dollars to further a political agenda and SHOULD be prosecuted to the fullest and ultimately convicted!
Down with ACORN. These journalists should be praised.
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