Today’s Worcester Telegram & Gazette reports that Federal District Court Judge F. Dennis Saylor IV admonished Attorney General Thomas Reilly’s office saying that…
…any objective, reasonable person would find the Feb. 14 letter to Ms. Jean from the state police a threat to prosecute that chills her First Amendment right of expression.
Read the full article here (sub. req.) or here.
In issuing a preliminary injunction against Reilly and the State Police, Judge Saylor made a ruling that could potentially affect high profile cases including one in which a cell phone conversation involving former U.S. House Speaker Newt Gingrich was intercepted with a police scanner.
Judge Saylor upheld the principle that publicizing police conduct that is potentially of public concern (in this case a warantless search of a home) trumps the question of how the video was generated.
The ruling supports Mary Jean’s (the Leominster mom who posted the video to www.conte2006.com) contention that the letter she received was a form of political intimidation.
The T&G reports
Ms. Jean is a critic of Worcester District Attorney John J. Conte. Her lawyer, Daniel J. Shea, argues that the state police threatened to arrest her in retaliation for showing the videotape on her Web site, a tape that Mr. Shea said could be embarrassing to state police attached to Mr. Conteâs office.
There will be a conference on May 5 to decide whether to make yesterday’s injunction permanent. Reilly now has to decide whether to appeal.
