Her case went to the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals which ruled last Friday. SHE WON!! Read the decision here.
One of the more entertaining side shows of last spring (read link from the bottom), which in the summer and fall (ditto) insinuated itself into the governor’s race, was that of Leominster mom Mary Jean who received a letter threatening felony charges from State Police associated with former Worcester County DA John Conte for posting a video to her anti-Conte web site of a man being arrested in his home without a warrant. Ms. Jean won a restraining order AGAINST THE STATE POLICE (!!!), protecting her right to post that video. Then AG Tom Reilly appealed that order and late last week that appeal failed. This is a victory for Internet freedom, bellyaching by Sabutai, MaverickDem, rightmiddleleft, and CentralMassDad not withstanding. Maybe it is time for Tom Reilly and his apoligists on BMG to finally offer Mary Jean an apology. I have a feeling this is still not the last shoe to drop on this case.
Mary Jean,
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I’m sorry that your First Amendment rights were infringed upon. It is nothing that I personally favored or approved of. I’m glad to see that justice was served, and that the system worked. Congratulations on your victory.
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I further apologize for the eagerness upon which your difficulties were seized upon by political opportunists. For over a year now, your experience has still being used in political battles which barely touch upon your case. I hope their slavering exploitation of you went through for their political agendas will not turn you away from the process altogether. Perhaps they will apologize in due course.
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Brian
AKA Sabutai
Pretty sure I wrote, in the thread to which you linked, that she seemed to have a good defense.
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I still don’t understand why anyone gave two sh(aving cream can)s. A video of a police officer making a big order at Dunk’s would have been more exciting.
I can understand the fear in the police of being filmed. Certainly, the reason we don’t have recorders in police vehicles is that they wish no record taken of their blatant corruption and incompetence. It isn’t just the large cities, I’ve seen small town police harass the elderly, the infirm and of course, the young also. They fear exposure of their own cowardice.
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Other than the victims of police misconduct, my heart goes out to the honest, hardworking officers that make the tired system still work. They seems to be far fewer now and they are painted by the same brush as their co-workers. Who isn’t surprised when they talk to a bright, articulate, fair officer?
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First of all I would like to thank those who operate BLUMASS group for promoting my case.
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This victory is not just for a Leominster Mom, this is a victory for all of us who blog, publish and post, let us all celebrate, as this ruling has given us the freedom not fear prosecution for exposing the truth.
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The conte2006.com site was started on the advice of an FBI agent who himself was frustrated with the actions of Worcester DA John Conte. He told me the power of the vote is the only way to have him removed.
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I had wanted to associate with the BLUEMASS Group when it was first established but for fear of ramifications for those who operate the site I choose to wait.
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As we have seen one site can make a difference and influence an election or the actions of our elected official.
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I would also like to point out the support I have received from worcesterjustice and extend my deepest appreciation.
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For those who do not know this was third attack on the conte2006.com web site in an attempt to have the site taken down by John Conte and the second one concerning the use of his State Police Unit and having me charged under a violation of Massachusetts law.
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Presently, The State of Massachusetts has thirty days to file an appeal with the US Supreme Court; if they do not US District Court Judge Denis Saylor will then order the permanent injunction.
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Let the flag fly high, I am proud tonight to be an American!
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For if we do not have free speech we certainly do not have Freedom.
What was the cop’s beef or Conte’s for that matter? Were these undercover (so called) cops?
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Just a little info. The cops that work for the DA’s do so at the pleasure of the DA. The DA is a political hack and therefore these police officers are political stooges as well. There were activities that went on in DA Delahunt’s office that were mind boggling. (Norfolk County twenty five years ago). These police officers carry golf clubs in their cruisers from spring to autumn, and it’s not for playing on weekends.
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Now that you have a restraining order you can breathe a sigh of relief because they will now treat you like poison.
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BTW: I’m confused about the arrest in a dwelling without a warrant. You don’t need a warrant if it is a felony or a fresh pursuit.
That the raid was of dubious legality is one thing. Bet you won’t see the police misconduct there prosecuted.
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What puts fear in the hearts of what passes for law officers is being photographed doing what they do. Massachusetts law forbids the photography of police. I forget the wording, but it is in the General Laws. I know, I know; What about the 1st Amendment? The Massachusetts law is on shaky ground. The police don’t want the extortion, beatings, bribes and other misconduct photoed by the public. There is an organization, CopWatch that photographs police misconduct that has been successful in fighting corrupt cops. Police don’t want active resistance here.
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Do you think the police, DA and AG’s office want to test that shaky little law against the US Constitution?
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Probably not.
Whenever I overhear them speak, it is about how they just found a new “cheat” or scam to make or save more money or increase their retirements. The big thing now seems to be to register a car down Cape Cod and claim the legal residence their at the summer home. Aren’t Boston cops supposed to live either in Boston or nearby?
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Well, who’s to investigate?
of what this is all about.
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Mary Jean’s real “crime“ was running an anti-Conte website. “Crime” is in mega-quotes because of course that isn’t a crime at all. It is political discourse. But instead of responding by responding, or just taking his political lumps, John Conte decided to sic his State Police on her, and threaten her with felony prosecution to boot. Now that’s scary. If you’ve never gotten a letter like that you might not know how it feels. What Conte didn’t count on was that Mary Jean would fight back. Essentially he is a bully and a coward and had gotten away with it for 30 years. But fight back she did, and now Conte is the ex-District Attorney. Tom Reilly to his eternal discredit, aided and abetted his old pol pal crony Conte in perpetuating this sham, causing Mary Jean a lot of additional anguish.
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Joe Early Jr. may not admit it (or maybe he would), but he owes his job in large part to Mary Jean who had the guts to not only defy a sitting district attorney publicly, but a particularly nasty and old school one at that. Tim Murray didn’t want to run against him and had already announced for LG by the time Conte pulled out, which ended up working out well for Murray. When Conte pulled out, not long after the Conte2006 Website went live and started getting noticed in the press, James Leary toyed with the idea of jumping in. But Early was already making headway. Early ended up walking into the job with little opposition.
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Heros are in short supply these days, but Mary Jean is one of them. Thanks to her we don’t have Conte to kick around anymore. Thanks also go to the reporters who helped give this story legs. They include The MetroWest Daily News, Rich Nangle at the T&G, Laurel Sweet at the Herald, Dan Kennedy, Scott Zoback at Worcester Magazine, Noah Schaffer now of Lawyers Weekly, Kim Ring, WCVB’s Jim Boyd, Glen Johnson at the AP, Adam Reilly at the Phoenix and of course David, who frontpaged the very first post on this at BMG, Bob and Charley. (Did I forget anybody?)
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The people of Worcester may not know it, but they owe their new District Attorney to the potent combination of a gutsy woman, an alert media and the netroots.
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Check out the Web site Mary Jean runs and really cares about. Clergy abuse and a complict DA is what caused Mary Jean and John Conte to butt heads in the first place. Joe Early should take heed and give Mary Jean the respect she deserves.
Thanks, There is nothing scarier that some some political hack or cop trying to railroad or intimidate someone under color of law/
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CONGRATULATIONS mary Jean. You should sue the pants off this SOB and his police stooges, as icing on the cake!
should also be part of the above list of journalists. As should Lisa Gentes and Kristen Bradley.