Take That, Your Honor

The state of Washington has ruled that bloggers have free speech rights, even when they blog against a judge they are appearing before in a law case.  It all started when a Seattle retirement home resident started publishing a newsletter critical of the federally-subsidized place he was staying.  Council House, the retirement home, sued, and the judge ruled in its favor.  So the resident began to go online and criticize the judge, who promptly declared ”Contempt of Court” and ordered the man jailed until he removed the criticism.  A few months later, the man was released and took down his website, but he appealed the judge’s contempt ruling, citing that it was based on the reasoning that the man was not a journalist because he was not employed by a legitimate news organization.  The Washington Supreme Court upheld the man’s claim, but did not deliver him from all responsibility, saying that some of the things the man had claimed could still be prosecuted as harassment.