The VLW Blog

An assertion that a Marine was killed in Iraq as punishment for the tolerance of the United States for homosexuality was repugnant, but it could not be the basis for a $5 million judgment, the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled today.
U.S. District Judge Richard D. Bennett in Baltimore had ruled that the First [...]

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A blogger arrested for posting a police officer’s address will get some help from the ACLU of Virginia.
The group says it will defend Elisha Strom, a Bedford County woman who is charged under a state law that makes it a felony to publish a police officer’s address “with the intent to coerce, intimidate, or harass.”
As [...]

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A Lynchburg police officer says he got a tongue lashing from the city manager after he spoke out as a citizen at a public hearing on budget issues. Now, the officer is suing for $500,000, saying the manager’s tirade – which the officer secretly recorded – was unconstitutional retaliation for speech protected by the [...]

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A Chicago federal judge today dismissed charges of threatening a juror, ruling that Web posts by a Roanoke neo-Nazi were protected by the First Amendment.
U.S. District Judge Lynn Adelman held that merely publishing the address and other particulars about a juror was insufficient to support a case for solicitation of violence under the U.S. Code [...]

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A former Regent student suspended for mocking school founder Pat Robertson loses his free speech lawsuit against the university, reports the Associated Press.

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A Buchanan County woman passed over for a social services job has lost her suit against local officials, even though a federal appeals court holds it is unlawful to discriminate in hiring for that job on the basis of politics.
A panel of the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, in a published opinion released Friday, [...]

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Shenandoah County’s Fire and Rescue Association – struggling to deal with the closing of a member squad – postponed a widely-announced meeting because a news reporter attended, according to the Northern Virginia Daily.
The county government last week pulled the plug on the Strasburg Volunteer Rescue Squad, apparently because of reliability issues.  A question-and-answer session about [...]

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The man suing a Charlottesville weekly newspaper for defamation has parted ways with attorney James Creekmore of Daleville, reports the defendant publication, The Hook.
Apparently, Garrett — a sort of would-be celebrity — changes lawyers the way some of us change socks.  The newspaper recounts a number of attorneys who have represented the publicist and author.
Garrett’s [...]

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The Supreme Court of Virginia has rejected an appeal by a Christiansburg developer who was shut out in his lawsuit against a critical blogger.
The blogger had mocked the appearance of construction materials stored on developer Roger Woody’s property.  Woody sued, claiming the posts on the “ThinkChristiansburg” blog undermined his business.
Woody’s lawsuit was tossed by a [...]

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A former ink-stained wretch who went on to become a judge still has a soft spot for old-school newspapers.
It’s widely known that J. Harvie Wilkinson III, of the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, once served as editorial-page editor of The Virginian-Pilot.
In the 4th Circuit’s April 2 opinion in Andrews v. Clark, Wilkinson writes a [...]

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