Righthaven LLC v. Democratic Underground, LLC et al

Filing 124

MOTION for Leave to File Amicus Curiae Brief by Amicus Citizens Against Litigation Abuse, Inc.. Motion ripe 6/28/2011. (Attachments: # 1 Brief of Amicus Curiae Citizens Against Litigation Abuse, Inc.)(DeWitt, Clyde)

Download PDF
1 Clyde DeWitt Nevada Bar Number 9791 2 LAW OFFICES OF CLYDE DEWITT, APC 732 S. Sixth Street, Suite 100 3 Las Vegas, NV 89101 (702) 386-1756 4 Fax (310) 362-8667 clydedewitt@earthlink.net 5 Attorney for Amicus Curiae, 6 Citizens Against Litigation Abuse, Inc. 7 8 9 10 11 IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 12 FOR THE DISTRICT OF NEVADA 13 SOUTHERN DIVISION 14 15 RIGHTHAVEN LLC, a Nevada 16 limited-liability company, 17 Plaintiff, 18 vs. 19 DEMOCRATIC UNDERGROUND, LLC, a District of Columbia limited20 liability company; and DAVID ALLEN, an individual, 21 Defendants. 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) Case No: 2:10-cv-01356-RLH-GWF Hon. Roger L. Hunt, United States District Judge Hon. George W. Foley United States Magistrate Judge MOTION OF CITIZENS AGAINST LITIGATION ABUSE, INC. FOR LEAVE TO FILE AN AMICUS CURIAE BRIEF 1 2 MOTION FOR LEAVE TO FILE AN AMICUS CURIAE BRIEF Citizens Against Litigation Abuse, Inc. (“Amicus”), not a party to this action, 3 4 hereby moves for leave to file the accompanying Amicus Curiae Brief in the above- 5 captioned matter, in response to Plaintiff Righthaven LLC’s Application to Intervene 6 as of Right Pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 24(A)(2), Doc. #120. No 7 8 parties have been contacted with regard to the filing of this brief. The undersigned 9 respectfully request the Court’s indulgence with this motion, which is slightly longer 10 than a typical motion for leave to file such a brief. The undersigned seek not to 11 12 present argument in this motion but to demonstrate the deeply important First 13 Amendment issues involved in the Righthaven litigation. 14 The impetus behind Amicus presenting a brief to this Court is Righthaven’s 15 16 newly-filed Application to Intervene. Amicus submits that the argument in 17 Righthaven’s Application to Intervene regarding assignments is deeply flawed, as 18 explained in the brief. Righthaven has signaled its intent to continue modifying its 19 20 assignments, over and over, until it finds the magic words that allow it to continue its 21 litigious campaign. Amicus respectfully submits that the argument and authority in its 22 brief will potentially be of assistance to the Court in resolving these matters with 23 24 some permanence. 25 26 27 28 MOTION OF CITIZENS AGAINST LITIGATION ABUSE, INC. FOR LEAVE TO FILE AN AMICUS CURIAE BRIEF Page 2 1 Amicus Citizens Against Litigation Abuse is a South Carolina nonprofit 2 corporation.1 As its name implies, Amicus has an interest in preventing and opposing 3 4 abusive litigation. Amicus focuses on opposing abusive litigation in areas relating to 5 political speech and strategic lawsuits against public participation, known as SLAPP 6 lawsuits. Amicus is associated with attorney J. Todd Kincannon, a member of the 7 8 South Carolina Bar who represents the Lowcountry 9/12 Project, a Tea Party group, 9 and its president, Dana Eiser in Righthaven litigation in South Carolina. Mr. 10 Kincannon and his clients have a direct financial interest in the outcome of that 11 12 litigation, and that litigation may well be affected by this Court’s decision. Mr. 13 Kincannon is presently seeking admission pro hac vice in Righthaven v. Pahrump 14 Life, 2:10-cv-01575-JCM-PAL connected with the filing of an amicus curiae brief in 15 16 that case. 17 18 The Righthaven cases directly implicate freedom of speech and have an obvious chilling effect on core political speech on the Internet. A large proportion of 19 20 Righthaven cases involve core political speech, as one would expect with lawsuits 21 filed over material appearing in newspapers. Righthaven has sued political speakers 22 from all over the political spectrum. From left to right, from radical to moderate; no 23 24 group has escaped Righthaven’s litigation campaign. The following politically25 oriented defendants jump out from just a quick scan of a list of Righthaven cases: 26 1 There are other entities with similar names in other states. South 27 Carolina’s Citizens Against Litigation Abuse is not formally or informally affiliated 28 with any other such entity. MOTION OF CITIZENS AGAINST LITIGATION ABUSE, INC. FOR LEAVE TO FILE AN AMICUS CURIAE BRIEF Page 3 1 2 Former Republican Senate nominee Sharron Angle; The Democratic Party of Nevada; 3 4 The Democratic Underground website; 5 Free Republic LLC, a conservative website; 6 7 The Drudge Report, a major political news website; 8 The Center for Intercultural Organizing; 9 Thoughts From A Conservative Mom; 10 11 Pajamas Media, a major political blogging association; 12 The Second Amendment Foundation; 13 Virginia Citizens Defense League, Inc.; 14 15 Climate Change Fraud; 16 The United States Marijuana Party; 17 18 19 20 David Duke, a white supremacist and erstwhile politician; European-American Unity and Rights Organization, associated with Duke; Americans Against Food Taxes; 21 22 America’s Independent Party of Iowa; 23 Americans for Legal Immigration Political Action Committee; 24 25 American Political Action Committee; 26 WeHateGringos.com, immigration activists; 27 Second Amendment Sisters, Inc.; 28 MOTION OF CITIZENS AGAINST LITIGATION ABUSE, INC. FOR LEAVE TO FILE AN AMICUS CURIAE BRIEF Page 4 1 Americans for Immigration Reform; 2 Americans for Democratic Action, Inc.; 3 4 Independent Political Report; 5 No Quarter, a national security and terrorism blog; 6 Progressive Leadership Alliance of Nevada; 7 8 Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, Inc.; 9 National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws; 10 11 Free Speech Systems, LLC; and 12 Alex Jones, a libertarian talk radio host. 13 \\\ 14 15 \\\ 16 \\\ 17 \\\ 18 19 \\\ 20 \\\ 21 \\\ 22 23 \\\ 24 \\\ 25 \\\ 26 27 \\\ 28 \\\ MOTION OF CITIZENS AGAINST LITIGATION ABUSE, INC. FOR LEAVE TO FILE AN AMICUS CURIAE BRIEF Page 5 1 Righthaven does not sue people who have downloaded pirated movies or 2 music. Righthaven sues people who are communicating their views about issues of 3 4 the day and discussing important matters of public interest. Righthaven’s litigation 5 strategy is so brutal and abusive that the words “chilling effect” simply do not do it 6 justice. The free and open exchange of ideas is fundamental to American democracy. 7 8 Righthaven jeopardizes that, and for that reason Citizens Against Litigation Abuse 9 respectfully requests leave to file an amicus curiae brief in this matter. 10 Dated: June 28, 2011 Respectfully Submitted, 11 12 CLYDE DeWITT LAW OFFICES OF CLYDE DeWITT, APC 13 14 15 16 17 18 By: /s/ Clyde DeWitt Clyde DeWitt Counsel for Amicus Curiae, Citizens Against Litigation Abuse, Inc. 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 MOTION OF CITIZENS AGAINST LITIGATION ABUSE, INC. FOR LEAVE TO FILE AN AMICUS CURIAE BRIEF Page 6

Disclaimer: Justia Dockets & Filings provides public litigation records from the federal appellate and district courts. These filings and docket sheets should not be considered findings of fact or liability, nor do they necessarily reflect the view of Justia.


Why Is My Information Online?