Virginia Lawyers Weekly

The Supreme Court of Virginia has rejected an appeal by a Christiansburg developer who lost a $10-million lawsuit filed against a critical blogger. The decision was welcomed by free speech advocates who took up the cause of Terry Ellen Carter, a self-published small-town writer and critic.

Carter had mocked the appearance of construction materials stored on developer Roger Woody’s property. Woody sued, claiming the comments and pictures on the “ThinkChristiansburg” blog undermined his business.

Woody’s lawsuit was dismissed on the pleadings by a Montgomery County judge in October (VLW 008-8-224). Circuit Judge Ray W. Grubbs found Woody had failed to specify the harm he had suffered and how the defendants had intended to hurt his business.

On April 9, the Supreme Court refused Woody’s petition for an appeal.

Carter said she is grateful the matter is now ended. “I was terrified the whole time, and at some point soon will realize it’s well and truly over,” she said in a comment on the VLW Blog.

The ACLU of Virginia represented Carter with help from cooperating attorney Jonathan Rogers of Floyd.

ACLU officials described Woody’s lawsuit as a classic SLAPP: Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation. The group views the tactic as censorship by proxy.

“Censorship typically involves direct government suppression of speech – a public library removing a book or a local government shutting down a demonstration,” said ACLU of Virginia executive director Kent Willis, “whereas SLAPP suits indirectly employ the government by using the judicial system to accomplish the same goal.”

“The average person simply does not have the financial ability to fight these kinds of cases in court—so they capitulate by censoring themselves,” Willis said.

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