The Observation Deck

Here is a court filing that hammers Uldricks and Jay Carson's partners for their lawsuit used to "harass and intimidate" the political opponents of City Hall.

Recall that Jay Carson, Chairman of the Rebranded Insiders PAC for Faux Progress admitted in a police investigative interview that he and Uldricks had hatched the bogus lawsuit during the last political cycle last November---they hate people who speak out against the government.

The court filing below states at page 6: "Uldricks is using this lawsuit and the subpoena in an effort to intimidate and harass rickcitizen and other internet users to chill their constitutionally protected speech against the closure of Lakewood Hospital and other matter of political debate in the City of Lakewood."
"rickcitizen" is an online user on another forum who is courageously fighting to defend the First Amendment rights to speak out against the government.

Uldricks and Carson are trying to find out who rickcitizen is so that they can bully that person even more---Rickcitizen is having none of that.

Check out the letters starting at page 22 where Carson and his law partners are taken to school by "rickcitizen's" lawyers who are experts on the First Amendment. Carson and his law firm are filled with hatred---they hate the First Amendment and they don't even understand it.

The court filing exposes Carson and the Insiders as true "bullies"

The lawsuit is just another Summers HOAX on the people of Lakewood!

I say BRAVO to "rickcitizen" for standing up to the City Hall Insiders who are trying to bully all Lakewood citizens who don't think like they do.

Brian
Where did you get this? Is this available online?

Bridget,


I believe you can find it here. Do a civil search.

http://cpdocket.cp.cuyahogacounty.us/Search.aspx

Thanks, Kate. I found it.

I'm reading it now - all 113 pages!

All of the filings are viewable.

I've said from the moment I heard about this lawsuit that it had all the hallmarks of a suit meant to intimidate and silence critics. Ultimately, the goal is to "get rid" of the Observer and take away the one forum that the city cannot control.

Every single person in Lakewood should be outraged at this blatant attempt to stifle opinions that don't agree with the Mayor and City Council's.

Bravo rickcitizen! Seems like mayor Summers has a lot of explaining to do, he should hold a press conference to straighten out this matter. Bill Call could do the interview.

Hmm...lots of mention is in here on Nailah Byrd, Cuyahoga County Clerk of Courts (including signing the documents). This is natural, as she is the Clerk of Courts. But:

She previously served under Fitz! as Inspector General and was appointed in 2015 by Armond Budish to serve as the Clerk of Courts.

So far, it looks like Judge Donnelly is handling this case fairly. Let's hope it continues that way. However, we must keep in mind these points:

Judge John P. O'Donnell - Lakewood resident
Judge Nancy R. McDonnell - Lakewood resident
Judge Carolyn Friedland - Lakewood resident
Assistant Prosecuting Attorney (A.P.A.) Jennifer A. Driscoll - Lakewood resident and landlord
A.P.A. Dorcas Russo - Lakewood resident
A.P.A. Katherine Mullin - Lakewood resident
A.P.A. Michelle Myers - Lakewood resident
A.P.A. Scott Zarzycki - Lakewood resident
A.P.A. Saleh Awadallah - Lakewood resident and landlord (also Supervisor of the Prosecutor's Major Trial Unit)
A.P.A. Andrew Nichol - Lakewood resident (also Supervisor of the Prosecutor's Criminal Division)
A.P.A. John Kirkland - Lakewood landlord
A.P.A. John Kosko - Lakewood resident and husband of Judge Nancy R. McDonnell
Nora Hurley - Cuyahoga County Assistant Law Director
Mike Dever - Cuyahoga County Public Works Director, apparently a leftover from the Dimora days, see:
http://www.cleveland.com/countyincrisis ... dever.html
Stephen Bucha - Chief Foreclosure Magistrate and Lakewood resident

Finally, does anyone remember Darren Toms that used to be on WTAM? I had not heard him on the air in a while. I looked him up and this is what I found:
http://www.cleveland.com/metro/index.ss ... eting.html

Apparently, Darren Toms was now appointed to be the Communications Director for the Cuyahoga County courts. Through some social media searching, it appears that Darren Toms is the husband of Missy Toms, an alleged Summers friend and BuildLakewood supporter.

This is not to say that all of these people are bad or corrupt. Still, it is worth treading carefully, as some of these people must be at least acquaintances of Summers and/or his Company.

NOTICE:

Every person on the Deck needs to be aware that we are being watched.

Today, a filing was made by the plaintiff in the Uldricks vs Lakewood Observer lawsuit.

This thread was copied and included in the court record

Someone is monitoring this board and "documenting" threads that they don't like and putting them in lawsuit filings.

I find that completely outrageous and offensive.

Our First Amendment rights to discuss matters of public concern are being threatened.

Discussing city business and city employees, and matters of public record, is protected speech.

Apparently, some people don't understand that.

What is remarkable is that an ATTORNEY doesn't seem to understand that.

Are we now to be subject to surveillance by a disgruntled former city employee and his attorneys?

What is the purpose? To parse every word and allege defamation when they don't like what was said?

To invoke fear so that posters either stop posting or carefully avoid the political topics?

This is a blatant attempt to SILENCE the Deck.

Let me remind everyone here that you have rights PROTECTED BY THE CONSTITUTION. You have the FREEDOM to voice your opinion. TRUTH cannot be used against you. Defamation is a STATEMENT OF FALSE FACTS. OPINION is constitutionally protected speech.

Facts and opinions may embarrass you, bruise your ego, or hurt your feelings, but they are not illegal or actionable in court. TRUTH is not actionable.

Do not let this attempt to silence opposition to our government and their actions stop you from speaking out.

Contact your representative and senator and tell them to support the Speak Free Act of 2015, so that abuses of your right to speak out are aggressively attacked.

https://www.congress.gov/bill/114th-con ... -bill/2304

And let those lawyers know you understand your rights and will not be intimidated by their monitoring this board and filing frivolous lawsuits.

Here are some First Amendment resources for those interested in protecting their Constitutional rights.

https://popehat.com/free-speech-resources/

These sources provide clear explanations of your rights as a US citizen to speak and criticize.

Discussing a PUBLIC RECORD connected to a local political issue is your legal right.

How dare an attorney, who should know better, insinuate and allege that there is something illegal or improper about commenting on a PUBLIC RECORD

For goodness sakes, the records are online and publicly viewable! The courts obviously think you have a right to see them. And you have a right to talk about them.

What sort of city are we living in where people think it's OK to try to suppress PUBLIC INFORMATION?

Ohio law specifically allows the publication of criminal and court records.

http://codes.ohio.gov/orc/2317.05v1

2317.05 Impartial report of indictment, warrant, affidavit, or arrest privileged.
The publication of a fair and impartial report of the return of any indictment, the issuing of any warrant, the arrest of any person accused of crime, or the filing of any affidavit, pleading, or other document in any criminal or civil cause in any court of competent jurisdiction, or of a fair and impartial report of the contents thereof, is privileged, unless it is proved that the same was published maliciously, or that defendant has refused or neglected to publish in the same manner in which the publication complained of appeared, a reasonable written explanation or contradiction thereof by the plaintiff, or that the publisher has refused, upon request of the plaintiff, to publish the subsequent determination of such suit or action. This section and section 2317.04 of the Revised Code do not authorize the publication of blasphemous or indecent matter.

Why are we being assailed for discussing a court case and filing when it is LEGAL and relevant to political issues in this city?

I am constantly amazed at how our rights are trampled in Lakewood by people who should know better.

You CANNOT shut us up. We will not stop exposing the corruption, secrecy, and lies that permeate this administration.

Hiring practices in Lakewood ARE of legitimate public interest. Lawsuits are legitimate public issues. Criminal records of city employees are of legitimate public interest.

If you don't like your dirty laundry being aired, perhaps you should have WASHED it!

I suggest the plaintiff and his counsel buy some of this:

It's a very sad state of affairs.

City Hall and its allies want to stifle dissent in order to maintain the status quo.

Interesting defamation case that has several parallels to the case here in Lakewood:

https://popehat.com/2013/04/11/dr-bhara ... atch-blog/

As the well-known and respected attorney and former federal prosecutor writes:

Extravagant demands with no basis in law are also reliable tells of meritless thuggery. Note that Mr. Mahadass does not merely demand that Retraction Watch correct specified incorrect statements in its coverage of Dr. Aggarwal. Rather he demands that Retraction Watch not talk about Dr. Aggarwal at all and delete all mention of him, including parts that quote his own words. Dr. Aggarwal is not entitled to such relief by any stretch of the law or his imagination.

And this tidbit:

Moreover, he has no entitlement to privacy that would prevent anyone from writing about an investigation into the validity of his scientific publications. He has no right not to be "brought into the public eye in a negative manner" by accurate reporting on the existence of investigations.

Most importantly:

When entitled parties and thuggish attorneys can threaten bloggers with meritless lawsuits with impunity, everyone's right to free speech is threatened