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Scott Abraham, Assistant WebMaster for MenWeb's section offering information and help for male survivors of childhood sexual abuse, is currently under a gag order from the King County District Court not to post about skiing in the internet's Usenet newsgroup rec. alpine.skiing. Here's the story.
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Det. Shirey, Anthea Kerrison, petitioner David Hobbs and Erik Leonard worked together to present evidence known to be false in gag-order case
© 2002 by Bert H. Hoff. MenWeb News Services
Seattle, WA. 5/27/2002
A King County District Judge issued a far-reaching order that may be a first-ever precedent in cyber-space, banning a man from talking about olin skis, or any other skiing-related topic, in the Usenet newsgroup Rec. Skiing.Alpine.
The judge specifically cited her concern about werapons. Seattle Police Department Detective Leanne Shirey testified that Mr. Abraham "skiied with a gun." Anthea Kerrison of Australia, petitioner David Hobbs and Erik Leonard, a friend of Kerrison and Hobbs, presented "evidence" to substantiate this claim. Ms. Kerrison used Australia Department of Education Traning and Youth Affairs resources to send Det. Shirey e-mails that purported to "prove" this. Ms. Kerrison is no longer employed by the Department of Education Training and Youth Affairs.
The prestigeous international Global Internet Literacy Campaign reports on Det. Shirey's collusion with Ms. Kerrison and petitioner Hobbs in bringing the gag-order case and using the false evidence as follows:
| | Watch out if you're in a heated online debate with someone from Washington state (US).
In Seattle, a local judge has issued what may be the first ever Internet gag order. The court prohibited one individual, Scott Abraham, from participating in discussion on the Usenet newsgroup "rec.alpine.skiing" for a year, or face felony charges. The judge will now check all postings and screen out any messages that she deems unsuitable. She even warned users to stay away from the newsgroup, or at least refrain from discussion of any subject other than Alpine skiing.
These strong measures come after a war of words arose on the Usenet newsgroup "rec.alpine.skiing". The arguments got so vicious that several participants issued death threats.
An Australian government employee, Anthea Kerrison, passed along some of these messages to Leanne Shirey, a detective with the Seattle Police Department. Shirey, who was apparently worried about possible violence related to the World Trade Organization (WTO) summit to be held in Seattle, started monitoring the newsgroup, then sent out her own message, telling "all participants in the RSA newsgroup to stop all postings that do not have to do with skiing." Curiously, the department's message contained paternalistic language such as "Ignore anything that is not friendly and ski related. Not responding in any way will make all involved the better adults."
Afterwards, Shirey encouraged one of the newsgroup users to file a complaint in Washington state court. The complaint was pursuant to a new stringent state law which was purportedly designed to prevent harassment in cyberspace. The filing of the complaint led to the judge's edicts.
A number of legal experts deplored the ruling. Shari Steele from the Electronic Frontiers Foundation (EFF--a GILC member) said that the gag order was simply "too broad. A more appropriate order would be one that prohibited threatening language in messages targeted to a specific individual."
For further information, see Craig Bicknell, "Usenet Ban a Slippery Slope?", Wired News, November 16, 1999, at http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,32550,00.html
Article from: http://www.gilc.org/alert/alert38.html. Emphasis added.
More information about GILC members and news is
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The debate on this controversial case continues in the Usenet group rec.skiing.alpine. Alex Heney of England has been provided information, but continues to insist that none of this is documented. He insists that I should provide copies of the e-mails that Ms. Kerrison sent from the government computers in Australia to Det. Shirey.
This request, of course, is ridiculous. It would not be wise to publish on-line e-mails of a Seatle Police Department officer without that officer's consent.
I am willing, however, to provide enough of the header information to establish that such e-mails were sent from Kerrisono to Det. Shirey and used in court. Below are scanned copies of the top parts of two such e-mails.
Click on above image to see a larger, clearer view
As mentioned. Ms. Kerrison is no longer with DETYA, the Australia Department of Education Training and Youth Affairs. The above e-mails should not be taken as official statements of DETYA, or reflecting the views of that government agency.
The allegation has also been made that I had falsified the petition that David Hobbs provided. Here's a lilnk to a scan of David Hobbs' original petition.
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November 25, 1999
NEWS WATCH
Judge in Seattle Bans Man From a Newsgroup
A county judge in Seattle has raised eyebrows among civil liberties groups by applying anti-harassment law to the realm of cyberspace. Last week, as part of a restraining order, the judge barred a man from posting messages to a public newsgroup.
The man, Scott Abraham, was accused of threatening another newsgroup participant, David Hobbs, on an online bulletin board called rec.skiing.alpine. The source of the dispute is unclear -- some reports suggest that it started over a squabble about ski passes. But messages lingering in the newsgroup's archives show that whatever the root of the problem, the electronic exchanges did get nasty: Vicious messages, from Abraham and from others acting anonymously, were riddled with veiled threats to take up arms or commit assaults.
Abraham has denied threatening Hobbs and says that he is the one who has been threatened. But on Friday, at Hobbs's request, Judge Pro Tempore Marcine Anderson of King County District Court issued a restraining order against Abraham.
The order is a three-page form, filled out and signed. Added to it, in longhand, are Judge Anderson's words: "Respondent is further restrained from making or responding to postings at the Internet site rec.skiing.alpine either directly or indirectly, in person or through others."
Some civil rights groups say that those words are the equivalent of barring Abraham from speaking freely in a public forum. "It's too broad," said Tara Lemmey, president of the Electronic Frontier Foundation. To halt Abraham from sending messages about his accusers is one thing, Ms. Lemmey said. "But what if he wanted to talk about skiing?" she asked.
Abraham was not available for comment, but a friend who has come to his defense, Bert Hoff, said that Abraham had not decided whether to appeal the order. The Washington office of the American Civil Liberties Union is also reviewing the case.
LISA GUERNSEY
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The cases are David Hobbs v. Scott Anderson, 88-7536 and Edward C. "Ted" Waldron v. Scott Abraham, 99-7537. They were heard by King County District Court Judge Pro-Tem Marcine Anderson. Ms. Anderson is currently also a deputy prosecutor with the King County prosecutor's office. Her Washington State Bar Association listing is:
Name: Anderson, Marcine
Address: 700 5th Ave Ste 3900
City, ST Zip: Seattle, WA 98104-5043
Country: UNITED STATES
Business Phone: (206) 296-8820
Fax: (206) 296-0420
E-Mail: marcine.anderson@metrokc.gov
WSBA Number: 19346
Status: ACTIVE
The record of the proceeding consists of the oiginal petitions, tapes of the proceedings, the order granting petitioner Hobbs relief, and the order denying Edward C. "Ted" Waldron relief. There is no "transcript" in District Court proceedings.
The tapes are available from the King County District Court. Tapes 99-4-247, 99-4-248 and 99-4-249. They cost $30, and take 2-3 days to produce, I am informed. The order can be viewed in the court file or on the court's public-access computer terminal in Room 327, King County Courthouse, 516 3rd Ave., Seattle, WA 98104. Presumably, a clerk in Room 327 will also take orders for the tape.
This article has generated a lot of interest. Here are some of the comments received. Please feel free to send us yours.
Update: A Year Later, Seattle Police Department Continues to Fuel the Flame War. Details.
Concerned? Comments? Reactions?
Feel free to E-mail us. Please feel free to distribute this story of Internet censorship as widely as possible, provided that your intent is to halt court intervention in freedom of speech in cyber-space, and that it is not used for commercial purposes for financial gain to you. We can also accept (non-tax-deductable) contributions to a legal defense fund to seek to remove the gag from our Assistant WebMaster and combat court attempts to moderate discussions in Usenet groups. If you use this item, please do us the courtesy of letting us know when and where it is used, and what responses were received.
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Update: Det. Shirey cooperated with Anthea Kerrison of Australia, petitioner David Hobbs and Erik Leonard to encourage the lawsuit and introduce testimony known to be false. 
