FB Star Editorial (Hermer Responds)
Reposted from http://thewebbie.com:
Dear Ms. Sandlin:
I am one of the cooperating counsel with the American Civil Liberties Union of Texas, representing Matthew Feinberg in In re Sienna/Johnson Development. The suit is perhaps better known as the one Sienna Johnson brought against Mr. Feinberg and Chris Calvin to find out the identities of the anonymous users of www.mocitytalk.com and www.siennatalk.com . Sienna/Johnson allegedly sought those identities in anticipation of bringing a suit against one or more of the users for alleged defamation and/or business disparagement.
It is unfortunate that Ms. Fulenwider did not seek to interview either me or Mr. Feinberg’s other counsel before submitting her article.
Although I do not represent Mr. Calvin, we could have provided her with the following information: First, the law of the United States is crystal clear that the users of an Internet discussion board, including Mr. Feinberg’s website, have a right under the First Amendment to make anonymous posts, as long as they do not break the law in doing so. Regardless of what Mr. Calvin or any other website user writes - whether brilliant, boring, or ridiculous - he has the right to do so anonymously, as long as he doesn’t violate the law.
Sienna/Johnson’s lawyer, John Keville, said in Ms. Fulenwider’s article that he wants Mr. Calvin to stop making anonymous posts. In order to make that happen, however, Mr. Keville would either need to get Mr. Calvin voluntarily to agree to the prohibition, or Mr. Keville would need to convince the U.S. Supreme Court to change the well-settled law of the United States concerning anonymous speech. As things currently stand, if Sienna/Johnson doesn’t like people making anonymous criticisms of what it does, that’s Sienna/Johnson’s problem, and not anyone else’s.
As a second issue, it appears that neither Mr. Calvin nor Mr. Feinberg wrote the one and only post that Sienna/Johnson alluded to in its petition as allegedly constituting defamation or business disparagement.
Additionally, neither knows with any certainty who in fact wrote it. Sienna/Johnson evidently deposed the wrong individuals, if it in fact was interested only in finding out the identity of that one poster. However, Sienna/Johnson was not interested in finding out just that one poster’s identity. It was interested in finding out the identities of many different users of the site.
Some readers may wonder why an average person might resort to anonymity to make criticisms of powerful and wealthy people or businesses.
Mr. Calvin says that he’s spent over $20,000 in attorney’s fees involving this case. If Mr. Feinberg didn’t have pro bono help, his fees would have far exceeded this amount, to date. It should therefore be evident what a law-abiding individual such as Mr. Feinberg should fear from large businesses and powerful individuals if he dares to exercise his Constitutional right as an American on American soil simply to sponsor discussion that sometimes becomes critical of a powerful entity in a public forum and make himself identifiable in doing so.
Although we tried to stop Mr. Feinberg’s deposition from taking place, we were unsuccessful. No court of appeal has yet considered the matter based on the First Amendment issues involved. The case is presently before the 14th Court of Appeals in Houston.
Sincerely, Laura Hermer, J.D., L.L.M.
University of Houston Law Center
posted by responsible_dvlpmnt at Thursday, November 10, 2005
18 Comments:
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I think this series of questions from the FB Sun tell the tale of what JDC/SJD were after in their punishment deposition:
"Calvin said JDC/SJD, through John Keville, their attorney wanted to know some of the following information through the deposition:
The names and locations of everyone who served on the Committee for Resp-onsible Development (37 homeowners and families).
The names and locations of all those who signed the petition against the second group of apartments coming to Missouri City (1100+ signatures).
All those who supported the "No More Apartments" fight in Sienna Plantation and Missouri City.
Which Missouri City council members we had talked to about the petition and the no more apartments fight as well as those we had talked to about getting representation on our residents association board?
What other politicians, regulatory agencies had we talked to about this at the city, county or state level of government?
Who kicked in for the political ads against mayor Owen of Missouri City?
Who had emailed or talked to me on the phone about the "No More Apts" fight in Missouri City?
What other neighborhood associations were involved with he public fight against apartments (names/locations)?
Who is on the current mayoral candidate search committee?
Who are the current candidates on this committee?
Who are they planning on running against Mayor Owen?
The deposition used in this case by JDC/SJD attorney and Doug Goff's subsequent interpretation of it is based on his opinion of the findings and not a court or jury finding, Calvin said."
I'm glad you people are still posting!
This was posted on another local website I thought the commentary was accurate:
"I read with incredulity today (as I hope many of you did) the comments by Sugar Land Mayor David Wallace, Missouri City Mayor Allen Owen and Greater Fort Bend Economic Development Council president Herb Appel as they weighed in on the Fort Bend ISD controversy.
Are they concerned about low test scores? Are they worried about the fact that Fort Bend ISD has merely an “acceptable” rating and we now have only one “exemplary” school in the entire District? Are they demanding answers about why five schools did not meet Adequate Yearly Progress this past year? Are they looking for solutions for how we can get our student/teacher ratio out of the basement (currently FBISD ranks 1002 out of 1031 districts statewide)? Have they even read the audits to understand the issues involved or the evidence of waste and mismanagement contained in them?
Apparantly not. (At least if they are being quoted correctly by the Star.)
What are these stalwart leaders of our community concerned about? Selling houses and bringing more business to Fort Bend. Period. It seems to matter not to them (really, you have to read the article to believe it) whether or not the schools or education here really are top-notch – we just need to make sure that’s the perception everyone has.
Mayor Owen even goes as far as to say, “People read the local papers to get the feel of a community, which is why it is critical that they read about good things rather than negative ones.” (I can’t make stuff this good up.)"
--I wonder if the electorate is taking notice of the "Lords of Industry" and their generals in the field operating here in Fort Bend County? Hopefully the '06 elections will be a wake up call.
"Mayor Owen even goes as far as to say, “People read the local papers to get the feel of a community, which is why it is critical that they read about good things rather than negative ones.” (I can’t make stuff this good up.)"
I know what you mean and we have to live under his reign at least until '06.
"As a second issue, it appears that neither Mr. Calvin nor Mr. Feinberg wrote the one and only post that Sienna/Johnson alluded to in its petition as allegedly constituting defamation or business disparagement."
I wonder if the Appeals court will keep this case alive and award the targets their costs/damages?
Some of you may be interested in this UoM report:
Aug. 2005
Look out: Asteroid's near-miss may be home run for scientists
ANN ARBOR, Mich.—A University of Michigan-led research team has discovered that for the first time in history, scientists will be able to observe how the Earth's gravity will disrupt a massive asteroid's spin.
Scientists predict a near-miss when Asteroid 99942 Apophis passes Earth in 2029. An asteroid flies this close to the planet only once every 1,300 years. The chance to study it will help scientists deal with the object should it threaten collision with Earth.
Only about three Earth diameters will separate Apophis and Earth when the 400-meter asteroid hurtles by Earth's gravity, which will twist the object into a complex wobbling rotation. Such an occurrence has never been witnessed but could yield important clues to the interior of the sphere, according to a paper entitled, "Abrupt alteration of the spin state of asteroid 99942 Apophis (2004 MN4) during its 2029 Earth flyby," accepted for publication in the journal Icarus.
The team of scientists is led by U-M's Daniel Scheeres, associate professor of aerospace engineering, and includes U-M's Peter Washabaugh, associate professor of aerospace engineering.
Apophis is one of more than 600 known potentially hazardous asteroids and one of several that scientists hope to study more closely. In Apophis' case, additional measurements are necessary because the 2029 flyby could be followed by frequent close approaches thereafter, or even a collision.
Scheeres said not only is it the closest asteroid flyby ever predicted in advance, but it could provide a birds-eye view of the asteroid's "belly."
"In some sense it's like a space science mission 'for free' in that something scientifically interesting will happen, it will be observable from Earth, and it can be predicted far in advance," Scheeres said.
If NASA places measuring equipment on the asteroid's surface, scientists could for the first time study an asteroid's interior, similar to how geologists study earthquakes to gain understanding of the Earth's core, Scheeres said. Because the torque caused by the Earth's gravitational pull will cause surface and interior disruption to Apophis, scientists have a unique opportunity to observe its otherwise inaccessible mechanical properties, Scheeres said. Throwing the asteroid off balance could also affect its orbit and how close it comes to Earth in future years.
"Monitoring of this event telescopically and with devices placed on the asteroid's surface could reveal the nature of its interior, and provide us insight into how to deal with it should it ever threaten collision," Scheeres said.
The asteroid will be visible in the night sky of Europe, Africa and Western Asia.
The asteroid was discovered late last year and initially scientists gave it a 1-in-300 chance of hitting the Earth on April 13, 2029. Subsequent analysis of new and archived pre-discovery images showed that Apophis won't collide with Earth that day, but that later in 2035, 2036, and 2037 there remains a 1-in-6,250 chance that the asteroid could hit Earth, Scheeres said. Conversely, that's a 99.98 percent chance that the asteroid will miss Earth.
The asteroid is relatively small, about the length of three football fields. If it hit it wouldn't create wide-scale damage to the Earth, but would cause major damage at the impact site, Scheeres said.
The team of scientists also includes Lance Benner and Steve Ostro of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Alessandro Rossi of ISTI-CNR, Italy, and Francesco Marzari of the University of Padova, Italy.
Repost from SPMUD #2 website:
Ditch Steering Committee Update
On September 19, 2005,
Mr. John Jakubik (on behalf of the Ditch Steering Committee) conveyed to the Board the Committee’s
recommendation regarding a solution and path forward for rectifying the standing-water problems being experienced in the ditchsections of Sienna MUD No. 2. The Committee recommended an alternative (Primary Collector Option) that will provide additional elevation drop and increase the slopes available to keep water moving through to the system’s multiple outfall points. As this is stated, the Board wants to be very clear that the drainage system as it exists today works quite well with regard to handling extremely large rainfall events and preventing flooding. The problems that exist within the system are limited to handling drainage issues at the other end of the spectrum - the elimination of standing water from the ditches.
After receiving the recommendation from Mr. Jakubik along with some engineering input from Mr. Tom Ramsey (with our third-party engineers - Klotz & Associates), the Board scheduled a special meeting for September 30, 2005. For the special meeting, Klotz & Associates were asked to perform the necessary work to take the conceptual alternative chosen by the Committee to a higher level of engineering detail so that budgetary and implementation issues could be more fully discussed. At the September 30 meeting, these issues were discussed and the Board approved a motion to authorize Klotz & Associates to proceed with detail engineering of the Primary Collector Option.
Contracts for Klotz to perform that work were requested to be presented for approval at the October 17th board meeting. Specifically, the Primary Collector Option includes the construction of a piped storm sewer system in the North-South corridors within Steep Bank West to provide for as much as 24 inches of additional elevation drop to the system’s various outfall points.
The piped storm sewer will result in shallow swales with area inlets (see example picture below) that will collect rainfall and channel it into the piped system.
By adding this additional elevation drop in the North-South corridors, the East-West drainage ditches (which flow into the North-South corridors) can be re-graded to benefit from this additional slope. There will also be some re-setting of culverts (under driveways) which were set improperly during initial construction. In these cases, the culverts were set with either a flat or a reverse slope that impeded the flow of water. With regard to the cul-de-sac areas in Steep Bank East and Steep Bank West, the Board is continuing to look at the options available to remedy those drainage problems and that are complimentary to the work described above.
In addition to the work above, the Board will also be working to address the situations where water stands in the culverts underneath driveways. This situation predominantly exists as a result of a design code requirement, from the City of Missouri City, that stipulated the minimum culvert diameter be not less than 24”. This size pipe required that many of the culverts through-out the ditch-sections be counter-sunk below the ditch’s designed flowline elevation. Had the bottom of the 24” culvert pipe been installed at the ditch’s designed flowline elevation, it would have resulted in driveways not being level with the streets. To the extent it does not impede the flow of water in an extreme rain event; the Board is planning to fill in these counter-sunk culverts to match the ditch’s flowline elevation.
This work is estimated to begin in March/April, 2006. The exact start date will be decided based on weather conditions closer to that time. There are several options with regard to how the work might be phased and the Board will continue to work through those options to come up with the most effective/efficient plan that has the least disruption to the community. In the interim, the Board will be going through the legally required public advertising process to prepare the bid documents, qualify the contractors and to accept bids for the work. This should enable the Board to evaluate the bids and execute contracts well before the planned start date mentioned above.
***The final aspect of the Ditch Steering Committee’s charter had to do with finding a third-party legal counsel that would evaluate the legal issues and determine whether or not there were any parties that could be held legally responsible for the situation as it exists. The Board has directed our third-party counsel, Bracewell & Guiliani, to undertake efforts to begin the process of pursuing appropriate remedies. In anticipation of possible legal proceedings, this is all that can be communicated at this time about this aspect of the project.***
"The final aspect of the Ditch Steering Committee’s charter had to do with finding a third-party legal counsel that would evaluate the legal issues and determine whether or not there were any parties that could be held legally responsible for the situation as it exists. The Board has directed our third-party counsel, Bracewell & Guiliani, to undertake efforts to begin the process of pursuing appropriate remedies. In anticipation of possible legal proceedings, this is all that can be communicated at this time about this aspect of the project."
I wonder when this update will be posted.
Does anyone remember this one:
"Officials To Simonton: Disband At Your Peril
by Bob Dunn, Oct 8, 02:13 pm
County, city and economic development officials converged on Simonton Saturday morning to deliver a concerted message warning residents of the downside of “disincorporation”.
Fueled by anger over Simonton’s first-ever property tax, approved by the City Council in April, a group of residents has been circulating petitions seeking an election to decide whether Simonton should disband as a city.
Dismayed at what they called disinformation being circulated with the petitions, Simonton Mayor Paul “Dub” Sabrsula and the council called in a panel of government officials to answer questions at a town hall meeting at Simonton Community Church.
About 85 residents heard presentations from officials, including Fort Bend County Commissioner Andy Meyers, Rosenberg City Manager David Neeley and Greater Fort Bend Economic Development Council Executive Vice President Jeff Wiley, expound on imminent growth and development, road maintenance issues and the relationship between city services and city taxes.
“You have got to determine, what do you want for your community? Envision what you want Simonton to be … what’s your quality of life,” Fulshear Planning Board Chairman Mike McCann urged the crowd. The growth’s coming. It’s hit Fulshear broadside.”
McCann said the Fulshear – just four miles east of Simonton – now has 3,000 “master-planned acres” within city limits.
“If you’re looking for a place that you feel like will get you out of the mainstream of city life, you need to move further west,” McCann said. “The growth is coming to Simonton, and you can’t stop it. It’s coming fast and it’s coming hard.”
The panel spent two hours giving presentations in response to pre-selected questions, mostly involving road maintenance issues, before directly addressing the source of what has become Simonton’s controversy: property taxes and the resulting disincorporation movement.
Then Simonton resident Ralph Gustafson stood up and put panel members on the spot, asking them each to answer a question.
“Do you believe, in order for us to be able to know what our future holds, do you believe incorporation provides us that ability?” Gustafson asked.
Wiley, of the Economic Development Council, had a succinct answer.
“Yes,” he said.
Orchard City Commissioner Rodney Pavlock said if Simonton disincorporates, some other municipality will use the annexation process to move the area within its extraterritorial jurisdiction (ETJ), and then into its city limits. If that happens, Pavlock said, the power of Simonton residents’ votes would be diluted.
Rosenberg’s Neely said one of the main reasons for municipal incorporation is to protect citizens from growth. “You need to develop a subdivision ordinance and make developers within your ETJ develop to your standards.”
“You need to be an incorporated city,” Neeley said. “Run for office. Become a city council member. But be a city.”
Said County Commissioner Meyers, “One of the scary things you ought to consider is, if you disincorporate, I’m going to be the only elected official you’ve got.”
Meyers said he also believes a disincorporated Simonton would be annexed into another municipality’s ETJ. And, he said, that municipality could be the city of Houston. He said while Cinco Ranch residents may believe they’ll someday be part of Katy, they’re actually within Houston’s extraterritorial jurisdiction."
--I just love what the Fulshear mayor said to residents:
“If you’re looking for a place that you feel like will get you out of the mainstream of city life, you need to move further west,” McCann said. “The growth is coming to Simonton, and you can’t stop it. It’s coming fast and it’s coming hard.”
--Sounds like Fulshear needs a real mayor.
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If I could keep all the Owen lame quotes and post them here you all wouldn't have enough space. The latest one in the Star about not printing controversial issues in the paper is a gem though.--That one and the one we're he's calling most of his citizens "tree huggers" or how about the property cap one or the one we're he's asking "residents to leave if they don't like what they are doing" and so on. . . --they being the politicians and developers--
Maybe the EDC backed politicians should be exposed. Just call them the "EDC boys". It's very interesting that they are tax supported by us voters.
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Keep those cannons blazing boys and don't surrender them to the hordes!
Just a note. How is this not a fishing expedition when according to the defense attorney the statements (1-2) they were trying to label as Calvin's weren't his? It will be interesting to see if the appeals court recognizes the economic-political interests influencing this case.
This related issue was posted on www.thewebbie.com:
14 Nov 2005 08:06:36 am
FBISD MS #12
Frankly I don't get what the big deal is. River Ranch Middle School is a sucky name.. I'd rather see Sienna Middle School because look; Lake Olympia MS, First Colony MS, Sugar Land MS... etc.. ONLY ONE MS IS NAMED FOR A PERSON.
Hey FBISD.. Keep with tradition and name the school after the subdivision it is located in.. River Ranch Middle School SUCKS as a name.. The other name should be thrown out if in fact the name was not submitted properly.
Thats that.. About that...
Category : Community | Posted By : thewebbie |
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Bain's Dilemma?
By : Bain's Dilemma? @ Time : 14 Nov 2005 09:49:29 am :
I just find it interesting how many politicians Mr. Goff is backing for JDC in this area (Hebert, Owen, Bain, Smith, etc...and the list goes on). Notice Bain's givers include Mayor Owen (who gave Bain some of the contributions that were given to him from Goff/JDC) and the SP PAC which was set-up by Goff as well as direct contributions from our former SP mgr. (yes Goff again).
I think that adds up to about a third of Bain's financial campaign support. Bain also served on the naming committee too.--More than a vested interest.
Of course Matt, I'm like you--what's in a name anyway. I think we are focussed on the wrong issues as usual. Goff points his finger and his minions chase the latest craze. Personally i'd like to see more independent candidates and a public that is aware they are being manipulated for marketing purposes (the all might dollar again).
See the update on the above post at FortBendNow.com.
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