Massachusetts Racetrack 'SLAPPed' with Legal Costs for Lame Libel Suit

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Plainridge Racecourse, d/b/a Ourway Realty, has dropped its appeal of a Norfolk County Superior Court judge's dismissal of its defamation suit against a Plainville (Mass.) opponent of slot machine gambling at the harness racing track and will pay the defendant's attorneys fees of almost $25,000 pursuant to the Massachusetts anti-SLAPP (Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation) statute [M.G.L. c. 231, sec. 59H], the Attleboro Sun Chronicle reported.

The libel case, Ourway Realty, LLC v. Thomas Keen (Case No. 12-cv-00963), was brought by the track against the Plainville resident, who maintained a Web site and Facebook page advocating against adding slot machines at the track, based on a poster's comment on the Web site regarding a home-security photo of an intruder that police should search the race track to find the burglar. The ACLU of Massachusetts, through private counsel, successfully argued a motion to dismiss the complaint under the anti-SLAPP statute, which states in relevant part: "In any case in which a party asserts that the civil claims, counterclaims or cross claims against said party are based on said party's exercise of its right of petition under the constitution of the United States or of the commonwealth, said party may bring a special motion to dismiss."

The Sun Chronicle article reported that the plaintiff would pay the defendant's legal costs, but that no damages were assessed against the race track.

Sun Chronicle Charges Bloggers to Comment on Online Edition Articles

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Anonymous bloggers who want to add their two-cents to articles appearing in the online edition of the Attleboro (Mass.) Sun Chronicle must now follow two steps: 1) shed their anonymity & 2) cough up 99 cents to add their two cents.

Editor & Publisher reports that the Sun Chronicle, like its neighboring newspapers, The Foxboro Reporter and the Taunton Silver City Bulletin, now requires would-be commenters  to register their name, address and phone number with the paper, along with a valid credit card number, and to pay 99 cents for the chance to comment on online news stories.

The Sun Chronicle is not looking to generate revenue to overcome shrinking advertising and lost circulation, as the daily's publisher concedes much of the 99 cent fee will be absorbed by the cost of verifying credit card numbers.  Rather, the paper hopes to elevate the level of public discourse concerning the news of the day and to deter obnoxious visitors to its website who spew vulgar and inflammatory remarks while hiding behind a pseudonym.  Newspapers around the nation are grappling with this issue, as reflected by The Buffalo News, which now requires its article posters to complete a registration form including their name, address, email and phone number (see "TUOL" post 6/21/10).

"TUOL" believes the same strict adherence to publication guidelines followed by the paper in publishing or rejecting "snail mail" letters to the editor can be applied to online comments without compromising the First Amendment free speech right recognized by the Supreme Court to protect one's identity while commenting on issues of public concern.  Charging readers to post comments will discourage citizen participation and public dialogue. Moreover, the Sun Chronicle may regret its policy if security is compromised and a hacker gains access to the credit card numbers of the posters.

Stop whining and be thankful you have readers energized enough to weigh in on local and national news issues.

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