Aug 25, 2005
Sheriff Wins Access To
Law Enforcement Web Site's Records
By THOMAS
W. KRAUSE
tkrause@tampatrib.com
This month, the sheriff's
office filed suit against several John Doe and Jane Doe deputies who had posted
messages on the site. Sheriff's officials said the unidentified deputies were
posting sexist and racist messages. Sheriff's office policy forbids deputies
from using such language in public.
In the order, released
Wednesday, Judge William Levens ruled that the
sheriff's office could serve www.leoaffairs.com with subpoenas to gain access
to the Internet service provider addresses used by the anonymous deputies. The
sheriff's office could then approach the service providers to link the
addresses to the names of the deputies.
Levens ruled that the sheriff's office
must send an e-mail to all its employees, giving them 10 days to object to the
subpoenas. The sheriff's office also must post a message on www.leoaffairs.com to alert message
posters that law enforcement is seeking to identify some of them.
Luke Lirot,
an attorney for the Web site, said he will fight the subpoenas.
``We will probably move
to take whatever steps are appropriate to protect the identity of the people
who are posting on the Web site,'' Lirot said. ``If
they choose to do so - express their opinions and remain anonymous - that is
their fundamental right.''
Lirot said he thinks case law is on his
side.
The First Amendment
allows people to express opinions anonymously, he said.
``To me, this is nothing
more than a technological version of a suggestion box,'' Lirot
said.
J.D. Callaway, a
sheriff's spokesman, said the sheriff would not comment on the case other than
to say the office was moving forward with the subpoenas.
This month, Sheriff David
Gee said pursuing the deputies was not a vendetta against critical
subordinates.
One message, posted by
someone claiming to be a deputy, bragged about using a Taser to force a
confession from a black suspect, Gee said.
Gee said it was his duty
as sheriff to ensure he does not have any ``loose cannons'' in the sheriff's
office.
The lawsuit asked for a
temporary injunction to prevent the deputies from posting racist or sexist
messages on the site.
On Monday, Judge Marva Crenshaw ruled against such a block.
She wrote in the ruling
that the sheriff's office can seek to discipline deputies who break regulations
by making defamatory comments on a Web site ``but that discipline must be based
on what they have said, not what they are going to say.''
Crenshaw did order that
several postings that remained on the site must be removed, including one
anonymous comment that said a deputy ``is a witch. She has no class, acts like
trash and is the biggest offender of all the rules.''
The postings were removed
by Wednesday.
In place of one posting,
alleging a deputy discussed making threats against a woman, a www.leoaffairs. com moderator inserted
the following statement:
``Your anonymous posting
of improper and criminal activity within the Hillsborough County Sheriff Office
is against this Web site rules and regulations. It is highly suggested you
contact the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office Internal Affairs Bureau to
report your allegations of wrongdoing.''
The Web site has links to
about 40
Its mission statement
says the site is a ``sounding board between law enforcement officers and their
agencies.''
Reporter
Thomas W. Krause can be reached at (813) 259-7698.
This story can be found at: http://tampatrib.com/floridametronews/MGB7TV6JSCE.html