Submitted by Gene Howington, Guest Blogger
“Heaven has no rage like love to hatred turned, Nor hell a fury like a woman scorned.” – The Mourning Bride, Act III, Sc. VIII, by William Congreve
“The right to swing my fist ends where the other man’s nose begins.” – Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes
Your rights end where the rights of others begin is a maxim that posits you are free to exercise your rights until such exercise infringes upon the rights of others. It seems like a straight forward proposition, but like many seemingly straight forward propositions, sorting out the primacy of rights when they are equally valid yet conflicting is the basis of many a lawsuit. An interesting case from Minnesota provides an example that illustrates the balancing act between competing individual rights. The decision also provides a solution that while it may address the problem at bar may also be overreaching and a threat to the rights of all.
FACTS:
“Appellant Andrew John Arlotta and respondent Ann Marie Johnson had a romantic relationship from late 2008 to September 2009. After the relationship ended, Arlotta continued to contact Johnson against her wishes and Johnson obtained a temporary HRO [ed. – Harassment Restraining Order] against Arlotta on October 13, 2009. On December 22, Arlotta consented to entry of a six-month HRO that prohibited him from (1) committing any acts ‘intended to adversely affect [Johnson’s] safety, security, or privacy,’ (2) having ‘any contact’ with Johnson ‘in person, by work or home e-mail, by telephone, or by other means or persons,’ and (3) visiting Johnson’s Morgan Stanley ‘worksite.’ By its terms, the HRO expired on June 22, 2010.
Two days after entry of the 2009 HRO, Arlotta created an Internet blog titled, ‘Help Ann Johnson.’ The blog was written in the third-person and documented Arlotta’s ongoing relationship issues with Johnson. In the blog, Arlotta discussed personal information about Johnson, including her involvement in sexually and physically abusive relationships, and questioned the state of her mental health. Arlotta publicized and promoted the blog by sending electronic messages to Johnson’s relatives, friends, and others, and posting links to the blog on other websites. He used fake Facebook identities (‘Dana Russel’ and ‘Pekin Ilanis’) to post the blog to other Facebook users. As ‘Dana Russel,’ Arlotta contacted the father of Johnson’s child nine times between December 28, 2009, and January 27, 2010. Arlotta asked him to “stop by” the blog, telling him, ‘this involves your child,’ and claiming that ‘[c]hild & family services have been contacted.’ Arlotta also contacted Johnson’s grandmother telling her that Johnson ‘seems to have been abused,’ and ‘was either molested or abused as a child or witnessed domestic violence.’ As ‘Pekin Ilanis,’ Arlotta sent messages publicizing the blog to members of Johnson’s high school graduating class, a local television news anchor, and other organizations unrelated to Johnson. As a result, Johnson was contacted by friends, family, and others who expressed concern over Arlotta’s communications.
On August 22, 2010, Arlotta sent an e-mail to a Morgan Stanley employee asserting that Johnson was connected to ‘hardcore criminals’ and that she ‘could be bad for business.’ The e-mail included a link to the blog. The employee, believing the e-mail to be genuine, informed her supervisor, who met with Johnson to discuss the e-mail. No other action was taken by Johnson’s employer.
On September 10, Johnson petitioned for a new HRO. After an evidentiary hearing, the district court issued an HRO on March 28, 2011, that would ‘remain in effect until March 28, 2062.’ The HRO prohibits Arlotta from: (1) ‘[a]ny repeated, intrusive, or unwanted acts, words, or gestures that are intended to adversely affect [Johnson’s] safety, security, or privacy’; (2) ‘[a]ny contact, direct or indirect, with [Johnson] in person, by telephone, by email or by other means or persons; and (3) ‘[a]ny email or other electronic message contact with third-parties that contains any material concerning [Johnson] that affects or intends to adversely affect [her] safety, security, or privacy. The HRO also directs Arlotta to remove his blog from the Internet. This appeal follows.” MN. Court of Appeals A11-630, Johnson v. Arlotta [emphasis added].
DECISION:
The Minnesota Court of Appeals held that the district court properly determined that Arlotta engaged in harassment and violated the first HRO, the HRO is not an unconstitutional prior restraint, the HRO is not unconstitutionally vague, the availability of other legal redress does not preclude issuance of an HRO, and the district court erred in extending the HRO beyond 50 years. The Court of Appeals modified the judgement to a 50 year HRO and affirmed.
ISSUE:
The legal logic for each component of the decision – and I invite all of you to read it – is sound; it is formal, concise and relies upon relevant precedent. The issue isn’t that the HRO was vague with the Court of Appeals holding that “Arlotta argues that the order is vague because it does not define his right to publish or identify the subject matters he may appropriately discuss. He also contends that the HRO does not adequately explain the prohibition against ’emailing to third-parties any material concerning [Johnson],’ arguing that it is unclear whether discussions ‘about this case’ with friends and family would violate the order. We disagree.
The HRO incorporates the language of the harassment statute, which we held is not unconstitutionally vague. See Dunham, 708 N.W.2d at 568 (stating that ‘[n]o reasonable person could inadvertently violate the statute because of an inability to determine what type of conduct is prohibited’). The HRO does not prohibit the communication of ‘any material’ related to Johnson or this case. Rather, it prohibits communications that are ‘intentionally calculated’ to harass Johnson or have the effect of harassment, directly or indirectly, as exemplified by Arlotta’s ‘Help Ann Johnson’ blog and his contact with people close to Johnson. The HRO cannot reasonably be read to bar Arlotta from engaging in discussions with his own friends and family about this case, or from publishing on interests or topics other than Johnson. Accordingly, we conclude that the HRO is sufficiently specific so that Arlotta need not ‘guess at its meaning.’ See Connally, 269 U.S. at 391, 46 S.Ct. at 127.”
The issue is that in ordering the whole blog deleted instead of defining to an even narrower scope the material(s) that needed to be deleted to conform to the intent of the original HRO, did the Court of Appeals create precedent privileging the right to be free from harassment over the right to free speech that could ultimately have a chilling effect on free speech? Keep in mind the truthfulness of the statements were never challenged, only the intent and effect of the statements in relation to the original HRO. This kind of legal logic could make things difficult for anyone with a restraining order against them to ever write a memoir or blog about why the RO was granted given the breadth of the remedy. When rights come into conflict, the resolution can sometimes have unintended consequences.
Do you think the court erred in its logic in this instance? Should Constitutionally enumerated rights trump legislatively created rights? Do you think the court erred in not providing an even more narrowly crafted remedy? Do you think this precedent could have unintended effects of chilling free speech? Was the duty to balance rights against each other and compelling state interests met here? Or did the balancing act miss the mark? What do you think?
Source(s): Forbes, FindLaw – MN. Court of Appeals A11-630, Johnson v. Arlotta
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~Submitted by Gene Howington, Guest Blogger
Weird.
I know this Justin Sacie guy he is bad news. He tried to KILL his mom and sister two times. They were so scared of him they had to lock them selves in their bedroom and call the police. He is really sick in the head. He said he was going to eat them after he Killed them. He is one scary dude. Look up his records he should not be a free man. I hear they are posted in a blog.
1, December 22, 2011 at 5:35 pm
Looks like he was defending himself not attacking her. I found a copy of what was written in court records.
I am only writing this so that someone will try and help this person who so badly needs it. Help her and save her child from what will end up affecting them so much worse if their mother (pictured to your left which was found at trubreedmc.org) doesn’t get help. I have seen many cases just like the one described below. I meet this person on pandys.org about 6 months ago (Dec. 2009) because he had questions and wanted to get some help only to lead me to their blog which is where I read most of the below information from. Please feel fee to contact me or come to the site (screen name Love101) for support and a family of people that have been through it.
This sounds like someone that could possibly suffer from mental health problems? This is someone that has been the victim of rape by three different men, two of them at a party at local pro Minnesota Timberwolves basketball player Anthony Peeler place with her good friend Erin Bruns now Erin Nebben (Big Lake) who was dating Anthony Peeler. It is important to let you know that the man Ann Marie Johnson of Plymouth Minnesota is attacking in this blog is very sensitive to the issue of rape as his mother is also a victim of rape. (Erin Nebben is pictured on the left in this photo of two women) Yes, they both knew it happened and told her not to tell the police. The two guys that raped her were basketball player Anthony Peeler family members. The other guy and boyfriend that raped her and was physically abusive to her was Justin Saice (Picture 1) (his record convicted of 2 separate Domestic Abuse Order for Protection & 2 separate Harassment, Restraining Orders, he violated all of them (total of 4 all from women). In 2003 & 2006 Justin was found mentally ill by the courts and sent to a physc hospital) This is a guy that proposed to her and continued to rape her many times. The Private Investigator had a chat with Justin after he stopped by his place in Hopkins. Justin’s big thing to the PI was that she was always cheating on him (This person writes in the blog that they do not believe this and does not feel she is the type to cheat). Read the police reports where Justin had beat up a 50 year old homeless man that was living at Ann’s place for the past 3 days with another homeless person (Kathleen R Johnson 50 who is also a convicted criminal). Ann is someone who has continued to be in relationships with men who were either physically or sexually abusive to her, except for the last one who did none of this and has been the punching bag for her past. This person got her to counseling, sounds like he was trying to help her. Ann’s two plus year boyfriend Eric McDew (Picture 2). Another convicted criminal Spent 90 days in jail in 2005 for Domestic Assault (also Convicted of Unlawful Acts & convicted of Public Nuisance). Eric was living with her and her child for a year. Why would someone bring someone like this around their own child? This sounds like a trend in her type of men. Eric ended up stealing her credit card from her used it and lied to her about it (someone who she calls a good guy). The guy before him was Wayne, he tried to body slam her and beat her up. Sounds like another Domestic Abuse type of guy. Has anyone ever asked why she would have any association with a known criminal group called Tru Breed? She does and this guy is 26 year old Adonis Armstrong (Picture 3) who she is hanging with now, a month after she served her last boyfriend with a restraining order(which was dismissed with prejudice=A court has inherent power to dismiss an action with prejudice if it is vexatious or brought in bad faith). (Adoinis has a DUI from 2003) Just the type of guy she wants & needs but doesn’t want her child or friends to know about for some reason. Check out the type of people this Tru Breed group is on U-Tube. Don’t think this type of guy or group has anything good to offer her or her child but sounds and looks like all the other guys that she has been with. The reason for this might stem from her past experience? I would not be honest if I didn’t mention something that has me curious. Out of all of these guys only one was Caucasian, the one with no criminal record or past run in with the law. It sounds like he is in good standing with all of the girls he has dated even his last one. Sounds like this was the guy she attacked and lied about.
The question he had was why did she never tell anyone like the police, family or
seek professional counseling? She says she is completely fine with her past and that she has dealt with it on her own, he had nothing to be concerned about. She said all her friends and co-workers knew about all this and they help her. He had a hard time thinking that anyone would be fine after all that, especially when she never got any professional help. He did get her to see someone and she is actually still seeing Wayzata therapist Susan Siegel in Wayzata Minnesota(from his blog sounds like a real flake of a counselor). That makes him so happy even if he is no longer in her life. She is now getting the help she needs but it only works if you are honest and it sounds like she was never honest in the meetings they had with Susan. He was unsure if they could have a healthy relationship if she has not addressed these things and never gotten help. He is in love with her and told her that he would be by her side if she decided to go the path of getting some help. He even told her that he would wait for her to get healthy and that he would always be there for her. He would soon see if someone that has gone through all that with no counseling could have a healthy relationship with love and affection. It sounds like that never came the way it should. She might not have been able to have love and affection the way it should be because she was only used to the thugs and criminals that rape beat or steal. It sounds like it was too much work and to demanding for her to keep this window dressing on (again this is something that I have seen many times with women that have been the victim of what she has been through). It sounds like so many times before that she takes the easy way out. Go after him, the one guy that was not like the rest. He wanted to marry her and was actually saving for the ring that she picked out. A few weeks before all this they were working with a realtor and shopping for houses in Wayzata and Plymouth. It sounds like he was a great role model for her child and was always a gentleman to her. He mentions in his blog how in the mornings while she was in the shower he would get up and make the bed and by the time she was done with her shower he would be there waiting for her with a towel open for her to wrap her self in (almost all the time). He would leave work early so that he could be with her at her child’s sporting events. Every time he would get his haircut he would pick up a gift card for Ann to get her hair done at the same place. This sounds like a guy that did and would do anything for this woman. Ann would tell him both verbal and by e-mail what a positive impact he has made on her child. Her child was showing more affection with the mother then ever before. For the first time her child was holding her hand and giving her kisses out of the blue and even in public. Ann would comment on how the games they would play on who could open the door for mom first or who could pull out the chair for mom first was teaching her child for the first time on how to be a gentleman to his mother and other women. Something we know the past boyfriends and lovers didn’t do for this young impressionable child.
He really started to question if she was fine the first time she became physically abusive with him the night of her friend Robin Carter wedding February 14th. This is when they got back to his place and he was questioning some things in her past. While he was talking to her she all of a sudden had a burst of rage and out of control anger and slammed him against a wall and held him there while she yelled at him to stop questioning her past and that she is fine with it and he needed to get over it. As time went on he started to see more. She would get out of control often most of the time becoming verbally, mentally and physically abusive. On the 4th of July they got into another argument after he asked her about a man that was in her cell phone. He had a question about why she had a man’s name in her phone that was married and she didn’t know his wife and the wife didn’t know her. He thought this was a little strange and asked how she is such great friends with this guy for the past 10 years but had never met his wife or that his wife doesn’t even know of her. She said tough and told him to get over it. Looks like the other guy was more important then helping him to feel more comfortable. Later when this talk was brought up again she became out of control getting physically abusive slamming him against the wall. This time grabbing his wrists tightly and shaking him while pushing him against the wall. This out of control rage was very scary to him. The night of July 25th while the two of them were up north with a bunch of her friends she again got out of control. The conversation started in the car on the way back to the hotel from the concert. This again was a topic she became very angry about and begins yelling at him and telling him she is done and to leave and that he was an awful person. After telling him to leave and then like so many times before she started calling him on his cell and threatened him to get his “fucking ass back or she was done with him”. He would come back and the same thing would start up. This time she ended up slamming the car door in his face and walked off and then came back a few minutes later, this time getting him out of the car. While he was standing there with his arms crossed she verbally abused him some more and ended up getting physically abusive by pushing him where he ended up getting hurt when he fell back into the driver’s side mirror. The last time she threatened him was on October 7th when she again brought up her connections. Like other times when she would threaten him with her connections she told him that she knew people that would come after him and shut him up. This type of out of control behavior happened much more then the above.
There were times where he would leave her place because she was so out of control
that it scared him. She would call him and threaten him that “if he didn’t get his fucking ass back she was done with him”. There was one time when he left and she got in her car and chased him for miles down the street while calling him on his cell threatening him to turn around and get back to her place. He then pulled off to a gas station and she pulled in behind him and again with this rage she threatened him that she was done with him if he didn’t get back to her place. On September 11th the two of them got into an argument and he wanted to leave to leave her place. She kept him from leaving by blocking him from the bedroom door. After realizing he had no other safe option and she would not move after he asked her he was forced to stay. She has also thrown things at him before and because of his public figure status has threatened to use her connections with the local media to tell them some crazy story about him. She has broken into his e-mail account and gone through his personal stuff. Using his credit card she bought three plane tickets for herself and one for her child that they were all going to go on and then canceled all of them and kept the credit for herself. She came to him a few days before September 11th before one of many break ups and told him she needed to come up with $7,000 and if she didn’t she was going to have to cash in her 401k. He gets her car detailed and takes her and her child out for new shoes. The next day he takes her child to the opening game at TCF Bank stadium only to be stunned the next day when she breaks up with him again. Kind of like the day she sent him flowers and broke up with him in the same day. It’s strange she started looking up restraining orders the night of October 4th after he said he was done with her till she got help and he was going to date other women. She claims that later that night she sent his father an e mail how crazy he is and how he won’t stop contacting her. That day and early that morning of October 4th she was texting him and calling him. Since he would not answer her calls she left voice mails how much she loved him. On October 7th he stops by her place to pick up his things she had not sent him in the past three weeks. When he got there he meet her outside and she right away got into her out of control rage and started screaming at him and threatened him. She said she had sent his stuff and he should be getting it. He was so scared of her that he left right away. Five days later she submitted a restraining order against him for harassment. In the time frame she uses in her order September 13th through October 4th she texts him 252 times, sends him 21 e-mails, calls him on the phone for 300 minutes. Most of her e-mails and calls are mean, cold hearted and all blame. They meet with a counselor on September 17th and on the 22nd. She even used his Gopher tickets on September 19th and October 3rd. This is kind of strange, in his blog he mentions that she had broken up with him in the past and actually sent him an e-mail (which he posted on the blog) telling him that she would still like to use the tickets to a play he bought for the three of them to go to but she did not want him there. He gave them to her. During this time frame he has actual e-mails (which he posted on the blog) that she sent him where she is getting mad at him for not responding to her. In my mind this is not harassment on his part. Sounds like two people that are having a tough time letting go which is why her filing an order tells me that there is something more going on with her and that she is suffering from some mental illness that stems from her past.
It sounds a bit crazy but she tells him and others how she hates him more then any
other guy that has been in her life. She tells him that he did this to her and
made her this way. She blamed him for everything and never even brought up the
out of control behavior of hers. She tells him and the counselor that these guys she was with were not bad guys and were not thugs but he was the bad guy (Sounds like something is off in that thinking). I will tell you that he did not do this to her. From the sounds of it he loves and cares about her very much. He treated her very well. Most professionals as well as the people that have been through what she has will tell you that these things are very hard to face. The women that have been with the above named men said something to the police after they were treated the way they were. Why didn’t she? These men are criminals and could go to jail for the things they did to her. She didn’t tell anyone and some of the same things happened to other women by these men. When you are a victim over and over again it starts to become normal & actually something you seek unconsciously. The fact that nothing has ever been worked on could lead one to believe there is more that does not want to be dug up because its to hard to face. As you might be able to see this is a true sign of someone who is not stable and may suffer from some kind of mental health issue. She is someone who has a much distorted view on what is really going on with her and around her. She has now gone too far and has committed perjury and has been slandering his name and reputation. Because of her out of control behavior, physical abuse, bad temper and the threats of her connections with the media and this known group of criminals Tru Breed he is very concerned for his safety as well as the safety of his family (which is why he and his lawyer have prepared an OFP Order for Protection Domestic Abuse (which is all true unlike her report which can now be criminal because she committed perjury by lying about details) to be served if she ever contacts him again and this would not be good for a mother who has custody of her child). The type of men she has been with have proven to be criminals (mostly domestic abuse or rape) so this is of a concern as well. He (who has no criminal record and no run in with the law) wants nothing to do with her and is actually very scared of her and what her connections have proven to be capable of doing.
Please if not for her do it for the safety and well being of her child. If you would like more details feel free to ask me or read his blog. Please stop by Pandys.org and help them or post your comments below.
Looks like he was defending himself not attacking her. I found a copy of what was written in court records.
I am only writing this so that someone will try and help this person who so badly needs it. Help her and save her child from what will end up affecting them so much worse if their mother (pictured to your left which was found at trubreedmc.org) doesn’t get help. I have seen many cases just like the one described below. I meet this person on pandys.org about 6 months ago (Dec. 2009) because he had questions and wanted to get some help only to lead me to their blog which is where I read most of the below information from. Please feel fee to contact me or come to the site (screen name Love101) for support and a family of people that have been through it.
This sounds like someone that could possibly suffer from mental health problems? This is someone that has been the victim of rape by three different men, two of them at a party at local pro Minnesota Timberwolves basketball player Anthony Peeler place with her good friend Erin Bruns now Erin Nebben (Big Lake) who was dating Anthony Peeler. It is important to let you know that the man Ann Marie Johnson of Plymouth Minnesota is attacking in this blog is very sensitive to the issue of rape as his mother is also a victim of rape. (Erin Nebben is pictured on the left in this photo of two women) Yes, they both knew it happened and told her not to tell the police. The two guys that raped her were basketball player Anthony Peeler family members. The other guy and boyfriend that raped her and was physically abusive to her was Justin Saice (Picture 1) (his record convicted of 2 separate Domestic Abuse Order for Protection & 2 separate Harassment, Restraining Orders, he violated all of them (total of 4 all from women). In 2003 & 2006 Justin was found mentally ill by the courts and sent to a physc hospital) This is a guy that proposed to her and continued to rape her many times. The Private Investigator had a chat with Justin after he stopped by his place in Hopkins. Justin’s big thing to the PI was that she was always cheating on him (This person writes in the blog that they do not believe this and does not feel she is the type to cheat). Read the police reports where Justin had beat up a 50 year old homeless man that was living at Ann’s place for the past 3 days with another homeless person (Kathleen R Johnson 50 who is also a convicted criminal). Ann is someone who has continued to be in relationships with men who were either physically or sexually abusive to her, except for the last one who did none of this and has been the punching bag for her past. This person got her to counseling, sounds like he was trying to help her. Ann’s two plus year boyfriend Eric McDew (Picture 2). Another convicted criminal Spent 90 days in jail in 2005 for Domestic Assault (also Convicted of Unlawful Acts & convicted of Public Nuisance). Eric was living with her and her child for a year. Why would someone bring someone like this around their own child? This sounds like a trend in her type of men. Eric ended up stealing her credit card from her used it and lied to her about it (someone who she calls a good guy). The guy before him was Wayne, he tried to body slam her and beat her up. Sounds like another Domestic Abuse type of guy. Has anyone ever asked why she would have any association with a known criminal group called Tru Breed? She does and this guy is 26 year old Adonis Armstrong (Picture 3) who she is hanging with now, a month after she served her last boyfriend with a restraining order(which was dismissed with prejudice=A court has inherent power to dismiss an action with prejudice if it is vexatious or brought in bad faith). (Adoinis has a DUI from 2003) Just the type of guy she wants & needs but doesn’t want her child or friends to know about for some reason. Check out the type of people this Tru Breed group is on U-Tube. Don’t think this type of guy or group has anything good to offer her or her child but sounds and looks like all the other guys that she has been with. The reason for this might stem from her past experience? I would not be honest if I didn’t mention something that has me curious. Out of all of these guys only one was Caucasian, the one with no criminal record or past run in with the law. It sounds like he is in good standing with all of the girls he has dated even his last one. Sounds like this was the guy she attacked and lied about.
The question he had was why did she never tell anyone like the police, family or
seek professional counseling? She says she is completely fine with her past and that she has dealt with it on her own, he had nothing to be concerned about. She said all her friends and co-workers knew about all this and they help her. He had a hard time thinking that anyone would be fine after all that, especially when she never got any professional help. He did get her to see someone and she is actually still seeing Wayzata therapist Susan Siegel in Wayzata Minnesota(from his blog sounds like a real flake of a counselor). That makes him so happy even if he is no longer in her life. She is now getting the help she needs but it only works if you are honest and it sounds like she was never honest in the meetings they had with Susan. He was unsure if they could have a healthy relationship if she has not addressed these things and never gotten help. He is in love with her and told her that he would be by her side if she decided to go the path of getting some help. He even told her that he would wait for her to get healthy and that he would always be there for her. He would soon see if someone that has gone through all that with no counseling could have a healthy relationship with love and affection. It sounds like that never came the way it should. She might not have been able to have love and affection the way it should be because she was only used to the thugs and criminals that rape beat or steal. It sounds like it was too much work and to demanding for her to keep this window dressing on (again this is something that I have seen many times with women that have been the victim of what she has been through). It sounds like so many times before that she takes the easy way out. Go after him, the one guy that was not like the rest. He wanted to marry her and was actually saving for the ring that she picked out. A few weeks before all this they were working with a realtor and shopping for houses in Wayzata and Plymouth. It sounds like he was a great role model for her child and was always a gentleman to her. He mentions in his blog how in the mornings while she was in the shower he would get up and make the bed and by the time she was done with her shower he would be there waiting for her with a towel open for her to wrap her self in (almost all the time). He would leave work early so that he could be with her at her child’s sporting events. Every time he would get his haircut he would pick up a gift card for Ann to get her hair done at the same place. This sounds like a guy that did and would do anything for this woman. Ann would tell him both verbal and by e-mail what a positive impact he has made on her child. Her child was showing more affection with the mother then ever before. For the first time her child was holding her hand and giving her kisses out of the blue and even in public. Ann would comment on how the games they would play on who could open the door for mom first or who could pull out the chair for mom first was teaching her child for the first time on how to be a gentleman to his mother and other women. Something we know the past boyfriends and lovers didn’t do for this young impressionable child.
He really started to question if she was fine the first time she became physically abusive with him the night of her friend Robin Carter wedding February 14th. This is when they got back to his place and he was questioning some things in her past. While he was talking to her she all of a sudden had a burst of rage and out of control anger and slammed him against a wall and held him there while she yelled at him to stop questioning her past and that she is fine with it and he needed to get over it. As time went on he started to see more. She would get out of control often most of the time becoming verbally, mentally and physically abusive. On the 4th of July they got into another argument after he asked her about a man that was in her cell phone. He had a question about why she had a man’s name in her phone that was married and she didn’t know his wife and the wife didn’t know her. He thought this was a little strange and asked how she is such great friends with this guy for the past 10 years but had never met his wife or that his wife doesn’t even know of her. She said tough and told him to get over it. Looks like the other guy was more important then helping him to feel more comfortable. Later when this talk was brought up again she became out of control getting physically abusive slamming him against the wall. This time grabbing his wrists tightly and shaking him while pushing him against the wall. This out of control rage was very scary to him. The night of July 25th while the two of them were up north with a bunch of her friends she again got out of control. The conversation started in the car on the way back to the hotel from the concert. This again was a topic she became very angry about and begins yelling at him and telling him she is done and to leave and that he was an awful person. After telling him to leave and then like so many times before she started calling him on his cell and threatened him to get his “fucking ass back or she was done with him”. He would come back and the same thing would start up. This time she ended up slamming the car door in his face and walked off and then came back a few minutes later, this time getting him out of the car. While he was standing there with his arms crossed she verbally abused him some more and ended up getting physically abusive by pushing him where he ended up getting hurt when he fell back into the driver’s side mirror. The last time she threatened him was on October 7th when she again brought up her connections. Like other times when she would threaten him with her connections she told him that she knew people that would come after him and shut him up. This type of out of control behavior happened much more then the above.
There were times where he would leave her place because she was so out of control
that it scared him. She would call him and threaten him that “if he didn’t get his fucking ass back she was done with him”. There was one time when he left and she got in her car and chased him for miles down the street while calling him on his cell threatening him to turn around and get back to her place. He then pulled off to a gas station and she pulled in behind him and again with this rage she threatened him that she was done with him if he didn’t get back to her place. On September 11th the two of them got into an argument and he wanted to leave to leave her place. She kept him from leaving by blocking him from the bedroom door. After realizing he had no other safe option and she would not move after he asked her he was forced to stay. She has also thrown things at him before and because of his public figure status has threatened to use her connections with the local media to tell them some crazy story about him. She has broken into his e-mail account and gone through his personal stuff. Using his credit card she bought three plane tickets for herself and one for her child that they were all going to go on and then canceled all of them and kept the credit for herself. She came to him a few days before September 11th before one of many break ups and told him she needed to come up with $7,000 and if she didn’t she was going to have to cash in her 401k. He gets her car detailed and takes her and her child out for new shoes. The next day he takes her child to the opening game at TCF Bank stadium only to be stunned the next day when she breaks up with him again. Kind of like the day she sent him flowers and broke up with him in the same day. It’s strange she started looking up restraining orders the night of October 4th after he said he was done with her till she got help and he was going to date other women. She claims that later that night she sent his father an e mail how crazy he is and how he won’t stop contacting her. That day and early that morning of October 4th she was texting him and calling him. Since he would not answer her calls she left voice mails how much she loved him. On October 7th he stops by her place to pick up his things she had not sent him in the past three weeks. When he got there he meet her outside and she right away got into her out of control rage and started screaming at him and threatened him. She said she had sent his stuff and he should be getting it. He was so scared of her that he left right away. Five days later she submitted a restraining order against him for harassment. In the time frame she uses in her order September 13th through October 4th she texts him 252 times, sends him 21 e-mails, calls him on the phone for 300 minutes. Most of her e-mails and calls are mean, cold hearted and all blame. They meet with a counselor on September 17th and on the 22nd. She even used his Gopher tickets on September 19th and October 3rd. This is kind of strange, in his blog he mentions that she had broken up with him in the past and actually sent him an e-mail (which he posted on the blog) telling him that she would still like to use the tickets to a play he bought for the three of them to go to but she did not want him there. He gave them to her. During this time frame he has actual e-mails (which he posted on the blog) that she sent him where she is getting mad at him for not responding to her. In my mind this is not harassment on his part. Sounds like two people that are having a tough time letting go which is why her filing an order tells me that there is something more going on with her and that she is suffering from some mental illness that stems from her past.
It sounds a bit crazy but she tells him and others how she hates him more then any
other guy that has been in her life. She tells him that he did this to her and
made her this way. She blamed him for everything and never even brought up the
out of control behavior of hers. She tells him and the counselor that these guys she was with were not bad guys and were not thugs but he was the bad guy (Sounds like something is off in that thinking). I will tell you that he did not do this to her. From the sounds of it he loves and cares about her very much. He treated her very well. Most professionals as well as the people that have been through what she has will tell you that these things are very hard to face. The women that have been with the above named men said something to the police after they were treated the way they were. Why didn’t she? These men are criminals and could go to jail for the things they did to her. She didn’t tell anyone and some of the same things happened to other women by these men. When you are a victim over and over again it starts to become normal & actually something you seek unconsciously. The fact that nothing has ever been worked on could lead one to believe there is more that does not want to be dug up because its to hard to face. As you might be able to see this is a true sign of someone who is not stable and may suffer from some kind of mental health issue. She is someone who has a much distorted view on what is really going on with her and around her. She has now gone too far and has committed perjury and has been slandering his name and reputation. Because of her out of control behavior, physical abuse, bad temper and the threats of her connections with the media and this known group of criminals Tru Breed he is very concerned for his safety as well as the safety of his family (which is why he and his lawyer have prepared an OFP Order for Protection Domestic Abuse (which is all true unlike her report which can now be criminal because she committed perjury by lying about details) to be served if she ever contacts him again and this would not be good for a mother who has custody of her child). The type of men she has been with have proven to be criminals (mostly domestic abuse or rape) so this is of a concern as well. He (who has no criminal record and no run in with the law) wants nothing to do with her and is actually very scared of her and what her connections have proven to be capable of doing.
Please if not for her do it for the safety and well being of her child. If you would like more details feel free to ask me or read his blog. Please stop by Pandys.org and help them or post your comments below.
raff,
Thanks. I also personally agree with the court’s decision, but I think that the larger picture illustrates the potential difficulties in balancing primacy of rights. Even though the logic and legal reasoning is sound, the conclusion by its nature could lead to a potential abuse. That leads to my larger point that balancing right against right is never an easy process and even when done properly is tricky and wrought with uncertainty. Rights must inevitably be restrained by law even if that restraint is mere definition – law cannot operate without constraints on behavior. The trick is, of course, to negatively impact rights (especially enumerated rights) any more than it is absolutely necessary to bring about justice and equity.
Gene,
I am late to the party, but I enjoyed your article. I have to agree that the court was correct in taking the harsh approach against this blogger gone wild. He can still do and say whatever he wants on any other issue, he just can’t harass his ex in any way shape or form. I do not understand the 50 year length of the restraining order. That does seem a bit extreme.
lotta,
Truth
Blouise, LOL, ain’t that right. It’s a slippery slope too. I’m occasionally entertained by the thought of some rough justice for some crime or trespass I see but in the end I’m glad that my society is better than I am in that regard. That’s one of the things (egocentric as it might be) that distresses me about everything from the state of our justice/prison system to the nation’s policy on torture; it’s all so petty and small when the nation should be greater than that. Heck, if it’s going to be that wrong-headed I (or my insane neighbor) may as well be in charge! 🙂
” it’s almost a shame that a swift kick in the pants isn’t an available remedy” (lotta)
Honey, if it were allowed, we’d be using it all the time. 🙂
From article: “The issue is that in ordering the whole blog deleted instead of defining to an even narrower scope the material(s) that needed to be deleted to conform to the intent of the original HRO,…”
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From even the name it appears that the focus of the blog was Ms. Johnson. If it had been “I love Ponies” and had a sub-thread in which the offending postings were made then a limited ruling that did not disturb his pony-related postings would IMO, have been appropriate. As it was his whole blog was fair game as it was in total a vehicle for his bad behaviour.
Having said that on the mechanics of the decision I must say: what a d*****, it’s almost a shame that a swift kick in the pants isn’t an available remedy, LOL.
I’m good.with it.
Dress it up anyway you like, this is stalking and the blog was simply a tool facilitating that action.
Stalking in its’ various forms is a hard problem to deal with and often leads to tragic consequences. Many stalkers are nuanced in their harassment attempting to skate on a thin line between their legal rights and the health and safety of the person they stalk. All such cases must be handled not
only based on individual facts, but also without narrowly defining what constitutes stalking. I this case this was clearly a “stalking” situation where Arlotta was intentionally trying to visit harm on Ms. Johnson. Given this I think the judgment was appropriate. While it might be stupidly used as a precedent in future cases, is irrelevant to the needs of this particular situation. It would be easy to imagine pernicious uses to which the results of this case might be used as precedent to justify. The truth is though, that
Judicial stupidity in following precedent that backs their own pre-judgments is a frequent occurrence. That is what we have an appeals process for and I think in the instance of stalking the variance is so great that we are unable to legislate highly specific laws to cover this variety.
Did anyone argue that there was even one post on the blog that was not intended to harass?
If no one tried to defend the blog or even a single blog post, and the blog was discussed as a tool of harassment (Help Ann Johnson and linked to harassing actions), why shouldn’t the court assume the entire blog was harassing posts and just order the whole thing taken down?
Did the courts tell Arlotta he could never blog again under any name on any platform on any issue? Or did they just order the specific blog that no one defended a single blog post on taken down?
Even Abraham defended all of Sodom by seeking out 10 righteous blog posts before it was issued a takedown order.
Now, did the court create a precedent that other idiot judges won’t take and use to overreach with? Judges come from lawyers, lawyers are the literal shit of the earth, so yes, I am sure that other judges will take this decision too far.
From the opinion:
This is the key argument for me. There is no objective benefit to society of his speech that would trump her privacy rights. If he had posted non-Phtoshopped naked pictures of her, the issues would be the same, but her right to privacy would clearly trump his right to post the pictures.
lol
Thanks, Nal. I’ll fix that.
… by William Congere SB:
… by William Congreve.
Sometimes these are needed sometimes they are a waste of resources….they are feel good measures…without any teeth until something worse happens…