Appeals court refuses to adjudicate 1st Amendment rights of anonymous online antagonists.
When charged for receiving payments as part of a kickback scheme, Stacey Jackson pleaded guilty. This pleading has effectively ended a dispute over the production of records relating to a pair of online pundits through NOLA.com. The federal appeals court ruled last Monday.
The question arose as part of a criminal defendant’s rights to due process under the 5th Amendment, and whether those rights should trump provisions for free-speech protection. The questions will have to wait for another case.
