Texas Supreme Court Refuses to Hear Johnson Development Attempt to Sanction ACLU Attorneys Defending Homeowners in Sienna Plantation!!!
From the Fort Bend Star this week:
"Sienna web master’s appeal to Texas Supreme Court denied
By Barbara Fulenwider
Only a month after it was filed it was decided. The Texas Supreme Court denied the Matthew Feinberg/ACLU petition for a writ of mandamus.
In December, Feinberg, administrator of several Web sites used by bloggers who criticized Sienna/Johnson Developers (SJD), and his lawyer, Laura Hermer, cooperating attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union of Texas, filed an appeal with the Texas Supreme Court.
The appeal sought to keep anonymous the identities of bloggers whom Feinberg named in a court ordered deposition sought by SJD lawyers. At the time of the appeal, Hermer said the appeal could set precedent in Texas because the question has yet to be decided here but has been in other states. But that was not to be because the Texas Supreme Court turned down hearing the appeal". . . . (for the rest of the story click link above)
. . ."Hermer said, “I find it disappointing that the Texas Supreme Court choose not to rule on it (writ of mandamum) right now but it’s an issue that will likely come up again in respect to other cases. I expect the Texas Supreme Court will have this issue in front of it again at some point in the future.” As for the next step she may take on behalf of Feinberg, she said they haven’t fully discussed that yet so it hasn’t been decided.
Calvin, the Sienna resident, blogger and defendant in the suit filed by SJD, has maintained that the suit is a SLAPP (Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Particpation), typically used by large corporations and public officials against private citizens with the intent of silencing criticism and stifling petition activity.
In December, when SJD’s original petition was filed with the 240th Judicial District Court in Fort Bend County, Calvin said, “We are going to fight it all the way through as long as we can.”
Comment: For responses to this story in FortBendNow.com follow this link--http://www.fortbendnow.com/news/645/texas-supremes-side-with-siennajohnson-deny-bid-to-seal-deposition. What wasn't addressed in this article was the fact that the TX Sup. Ct. also refused to hear the SJD/JDC attempt to sanction Mr. Feinberg and 3 constitutional attorneys defending homeowners in this case and the fact that SJD/JDC lawyer Keville in December added dozens of homeowners to this SLAPP suit who aided the petition drive against apartments (see case filings listed on court connect). SO FAR NO JUDGE HAS SUPPORTED THE JDC/SJD REQUESTS TO SILENCE HOMEOWNERS IN THE SIENNA PLANTATION AREA FOR THEIR SUPPORT OF THE PETITION DRIVE AGAINST 1800 ADDITIONAL APARTMENTS COMING TO OUR COMMUNITY COURTESY OF JDC/SJD DEVELOPERS AND THEIR MAYOR ALLEN OWEN OF MISSOURI CITY, TX.
See related development issues currently in SP:
http://missouricitychatter.blogspot.com/2006/01/will-sienna-plantation-second.html
http://missouricitychatter.blogspot.com/2006/02/more-misinformation-from-sienna.html
Stay informed and keep in touch!
posted by responsible_dvlpmnt at Thursday, February 02, 2006
7 Comments:
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Comments on this from FBNow.com:
1 Chris Calvin, Ph.D. - Jan 30, 09:11 am
I wonder if Keville’s comment about the “real families” in Sienna include the 1100+ homeowners who signed the petition against his clients 2700+ apartment units now coming here, or the hundreds who attended city council sessions on this issue? I also wonder if it addresses the inevitable school over-crowding or increased traffic and density to our area?
Did he even read the FB Sun article on the negative impact these complexes will have on our community in the interview with John Wiley of the EDC? I have to admit that Keville has done a fair job in “camouflaging” (Canen & Pring, 1997) the intent of this case. As SLAPP experts would say we are in for a long battle and I promise Mr. Keville and SJD/JDC we will not go quietly. Your politicians will be exposed and we will continue to speak out against land use that hurts our families and this community (this includes the airport expansion issue). You have won nothing. The real deceptions will be addressed too!
The court did not address whether or not we can post anonymously or not. You have not stopped free speech. You can continue to try to scare people out of speaking up, but so far no court has supported your request for sanctions/injunctions.—The court has not determined that in these proceedings!
I would like to encourage all who read this to contact their state representatives and encourage them to pass anti-SLAPP legislation to stop these frivilous anti-participation lawsuits before they have a chance to do real harm to the voters/tax-payers and citizens of this county & state.
Stay informed and keep in touch and get out this year and vote!!!
For more visit:
http://missouricitychatter.blogspot.com
2 Matthew Feinberg - Jan 30, 09:46 am
Mr. Keville says …”Sienna has never sought this information.”
This is an outright LIE. Mr. Keville made it very clear in the deposition he had every intention on finding out the identities of all the users of the site so he can investigate his claims.
During the deposition they asked me about dozens of users identities that was known not to be Calvin (nor did I know the true identities, but that is not the point). I was deposed under extreme duress and under court order even though we had an active appeal. Failure to comply with the court order could have put me and my attorneys under contempt.
Mr. Keville. If you (Sienna) does not care to discover the identities of the hundreds of other anonymous users then why do you want to discover them? They had requested the complete database and other documents during the pre-trial depositions and they had REFUSED to settle our dispute when we tried to limit their discovery only to posts made by Chris Calvin.
I fully expect a discover request from Mr. Keville for the database from the SiennaTalk.com/MissouriCityTalk.com web sites (why? Because Keville has already called Laura Hermer and made it very clear to her that was his intention). This database includes the email address for hundreds innocent of users. With this information they can obtain the true identities of innocent anonymous users. Any and all of these users are at risk of being either sued or dragged into court, even if they were innocent.
My contention has been from the beginning that SJD did not have the right to even request a deposition from me and that they do not have a right discover innocent anonymous users. I would continue to fight for the rights of anonymous posters, however I am bankrupt. If you have posted at my site(s) you run the risk of being sued or at least brought into court requiring you to hire an attorney to protect your rights.
Thank you everyone for your support. I’ve received dozens of emails from people supporting my fight and some emails from other that have gone through what I am going through now. I am sorry I failed so many and sorry that so many peoples privacy and constitutional rights are going to be violated by the SDJ and their attorneys. The Texas Supreme Court apparently does not give a hoot about your privacy or first amendment rights either.
I only hope the ACLU will continue to help.
More from FBNow.com:
3 responsible_dvlpmnt - Jan 30, 10:10 am
I noticed lawyer Keville claims they only were seeking information about Dr. Calvin again. This makes for tiresome reading because in the petitions filed by Mr. Keville and Johnson Development Co. of Houston (Larry Johnson, President) they named the homeowners committee which includes dozens of Sienna residents who helped advance the petiton drive against their precious apartments.
He also fails to mention the requested sanctions and attempted injunctions in other petitions against Mr. Feinberg and his attorneys. None of which have been granted but certainly contradict his media claims above.
Thank you Matthew and CRD for all your efforts and know that the court battle continues, it only moves to another venue now…Take care and continue to speak up! Corporate censorship must stop (it’s is after all very poor PR). . . ;-)
4 Sienna Resident - Jan 30, 01:18 pm
Its amazing that one can no longer speak freely without fear of retaliation. A SLAPP suit is design to force an activist to spend huge amounts of money on attorney fee and other legal expenses. Even if the activist prevails in the courts, the financial damage has already taken place, and thats the main objective of the party filing the SLAPP lawsuit. Its that simple.
5 ' - Jan 31, 07:52 am
Background on this strike case:
Johnson Development SLAPP (Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation) case against own residents begins.—
http://www.fortbendnow.com/news/317/fight-over-apartments-could-restrict-free-speech-on-the-web·
Allen Owens Involvement in this case?—http://www.fortbendnow.com/opinion/351/an-open-letter-to-the-missouri-city-mayor
Johnson Development SLAPP suit against own residents adds homeowners committee and asks for maximum damages allowable by law.
http://www.fortbendnow.com/news/487/sienna-plantation-developers-sue-community-activist-for-defamation
Sienna-Johnson Development Co. supports road diversion which will aid airport expansion/flights over Sienna Plantation.
http://www.fortbendnow.com/opinion/544/raising-a-red-flag-over-arcola
Feinberg appeals case to protect homeowners from exposure by Johnson Development. SLAPP suit continues.
http://www.fortbendnow.com/news/548/missouri-city-case-over-anonymous-web-postings-appealed-to-texas-supreme-court
TX. Supreme Ct. refuses to act on the petition upholding lower courts decision providing inadequate protections for SiennaTalk.com participants (homeowners in Sienna). Court also refuses to hear Johnson Development lawyers arguments on attempts to injunct/sanction resident’s attorneys, homeowners or the claim of frivolous appeal (not a victory for Keville and JDC).
http://www.fortbendnow.com/news/645/texas-supremes-side-with-siennajohnson-deny-bid-to-seal-deposition
Note: Two weeks ago initial discovery was filed against Johnson Development Co. (developers of Sienna Plantation, Riverstone, Silver Lake, Fall Creek, Tuscan Lakes, etc.) in preparation for a potential lawsuit against them based on the deceptive trade practices act of Texas, libel, defamation, etc. (commonly known by legal experts as the SLAPP-back). . . stay tuned for more!
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
For those of you following the Sienna village rep. election. This is from a neighborhood website in a community set-up by Johnson Development in Pearland. Will Sienna have this same trouble in a few years?:
Homeowners for a Better Silverlake
* Did you know the current Board of Directors elected their newest member without your input?
* Do you think it is fair that only one person was nominated for this position?
* Did you know he is a neighbor of the current president of the Board?
* Does it bother you that neither you nor anyone else ever has a chance to be on this Board as dictated by our By-Laws unless hand chosen by the Board?
* Did you know that our By-Laws lay out a process for Neighborhood Representatives to elect new Board members, but the Board is circumventing this process?
* Does it bother you that the Board of Directors did not provide you with a budget, but collected your HOA dues for 2005?
* Are you alarmed that this Board is not accountable to anyone, including its own paying members (this is you!)?
* Are you also alarmed that this Board has not provided audited financial statements for over 6 years?
* Did you know that several residents have repeatedly requested this information under the Texas property code and were refused? Is the Board hiding something?
* How is your 1.7 million-dollar budget spent every year?
* Did you know that a group of residents is suing this Board on your behalf to have them operate by the current By-Laws? Would you like to see some change?
We are Homeowners for a Better Silverlake, and we want this Homeowners Association to be something that works for the paying members, not against them, with a Board of Directors that has been elected properly, and not appointed by the Developer or appointed by themselves. We are working to put control back in the hands of caring, responsible, and approachable neighbors, not a Board of Directors that will never let you have input.
If you would like more immediate information, or would like to help, please contact one of the following people:
Deonna Clark (Central/Creekstone) Mclark5@houston.rr.com 281-692-1770
Karl Bernard (Central/Creekstone) Karl-Bernard@houston.rr.com 281-
ugg outlet
links of london
longchamp
converse
nike air max 2017
coach outlet online
adidas shoes
supreme
north face outlet
birkenstock sandals
20183.13wengdongdong
thomas sabo uk
coach outlet
nike air max
true religion jeans
pandora uk
coach factory outlet
miu miu shoes
france world cup jersey
nike air max
roshe run
2018.3.30chenlixiang
Post a Comment
<< Home