*** VICTORY *** SEE REPLY #52.


Honolulu, Hawaii – Today in the Federal District Court of Hawaii, the Hawaii Defense Foundation has filed a lawsuit for violations of the First Amendment.  The Defendants in this case are the City and County of Honolulu and a Honolulu Police Officer, Capt. Andrew Lum.

The complaint filed in the United States District Court by attorneys Richard Holcomb, Alan Beck, and Brian Brazier alleges that the Honolulu Police unlawfully administer their Facebook Fan page in violation of American citizen’s right to free speech.  The complaint asserts that the Honolulu police arbitrarily moderate the page by deleting comments and banning users who post or make comments unfavorable to the department. The complaint further asserts that online speech is just as important as a citizen airing their grievance in a public park – just because the speech is virtual, doesn’t mean it is not protected.

“The First Amendment protects the right to free speech. Without question, social media has become a cornerstone for communication in the days of iPads, smart phones, and computers. In fact, online speech, within sites like Facebook, is utilized every day by citizens, businesses, and government agencies to communicate with the public at large.

The online world appears to truly be the go to medium for a citizen to share ideas and voice their opinions on a wide variety of topics.  Across the globe, social media has been at the forefront of communication during natural disasters, revolts against tyranny, and civil protest; few methods of speech see more activity than Facebook and Twitter.  We have already seen governments infringe online speech. Just look at countries like China or Egypt, who have at times prohibited these sites in order to silence their citizens into submission.  Deleting comments and banning people from expressing their opinion is simply an act of oppression.  However, we are not China, nor Egypt.  American citizens have a voice, and these practices must stop.” says Chris Baker.

Hawaii Defense Foundation (www.TheHDF.org) is 501.c (3) charity in Honolulu, Hawaii. The Foundation serves the community by providing various services, such as: legal defense of civil rights, educational courses on firearm safety, self-defense training, and life saving techniques – such as first aid and CPR.

If you would like to show your support or are looking for additional information please contact the Foundation at (808) 664-1827 or info@TheHDF.org.

Some of the press:

Post by Attorneys or Professors

Attorney Pedram Tabibi:   http://libn.com/youngisland/2012/08/31/how-deleting-a-facebook-post-may-violate-free-speech-and-lead-to-a-lawsuit/

First Amendment Center:  http://www.firstamendmentcenter.org/hawaii-gun-group-sues-police-over-deleted-facebook-posts

Local Attorney, Elijah Yip of Cades Shutte:  http://www.legaltxts.com/a-matter-of-moderation/

Citizens Media Law Project: http://www.citmedialaw.org/blog/2012/how-do-you-say-public-forum-doctrine-hawaiian

Ancel Glink, Local Government litigation: http://municipalminute.ancelglink.com/2012/08/lawsuit-claims-city-facebook-page-is.html

Professor Josh Blackman: http://joshblackman.com/blog/2012/08/22/can-the-government-delete-posts-on-the-basis-of-their-content-from-a-facebook-page-it-established-to-communicate-with-the-public/

People on facebook are such dumb donkeys.  I cant believe some of the replies.

I tried backing up the complainants on the HPD facebook page and KHON's facebook post (P.R. Centeno), but I'm getting pretty tired of the "roll over and let the police do what they want" mentality of the local people.. 

 

Hnl flyboy, is that you, P.R Centeno?  Im Joshua Y.
Were like the most disliked people on there.  Hahahhaah.  And i think they been removing my comments.  I could have swore i had more previous posts but they are not there anymore.
When i saw you post, i was like, finally someone knows whats going on and what they are talking about.  I totally agree with what you said.  People act like, oh its hpd, just trust them, they know what they are doing. 
And yes, its pretty frustrating.  Just like pissing in the wind.

I was working hard at it too. 

Meanwhile in Virginia...

http://spreadlibertynews.com/fbi-agents-take-virginia-resident-for-facebook-posts-roommate-sayshe-goes-before-a-judge-at-the-hospital-from-what-we-have-been-told/

Careful what you say on the Facebook. It is a tool designed for spying on American citizens after all, and now they are locking people up for 'pre-crime' kinda like the movie Minority Report.

So their suing because a moderator for a HPD Facebook page deleated some posts from some citizens?  That's a dumb reason? The suit says that they infringed on their first amendment rights by deleating their posts after it was posted? The way I see it is they were able to exercise their first amendment right without restriction. The post was then purged after it was viewed by numerous people so the original poster was able to express their opinion. What a frivolous law suit and a waste of taxpayer money defending it.

So their suing because a moderator for a HPD Facebook page deleated some posts from some citizens?  That's a dumb reason? The suit says that they infringed on their first amendment rights by deleating their posts after it was posted? The way I see it is they were able to exercise their first amendment right without restriction. The post was then purged after it was viewed by numerous people so the original poster was able to express their opinion. What a frivolous law suit and a waste of taxpayer money defending it.

Posts the HPD didn't agree with were deleted, while ones they did agree with remained.  Government agencies are not allowed to do that in what is supposed to be an open forum.  For those who are upset about the taxpayer dollars wasted, I would suggest channeling your energy into convincing HPD not to waste money in a vain attempt to defend an indefensible position. 

Funtimes- I support you all the way. Give'em hell.You are soooo right and it is not a wasted lawsuit.

You made the news Funtimes. 1st lawsuit of this type in the country!!!    

You made the news Funtimes. 1st lawsuit of this type in the country!!!    

We got a bunch of press on this one, I was pleased.  Associated press also interviewed my Attorney (and got us more press) when they released it to all of their sources.

We got a bunch of press on this one, I was pleased.  Associated press also interviewed my Attorney (and got us more press) when they released it to all of their sources.

Hope the awareness of this suit brings in more funds.

Hnl flyboy, is that you, P.R Centeno?  Im Joshua Y.
Were like the most disliked people on there.  Hahahhaah.  And i think they been removing my comments.  I could have swore i had more previous posts but they are not there anymore.
When i saw you post, i was like, finally someone knows whats going on and what they are talking about.  I totally agree with what you said.  People act like, oh its hpd, just trust them, they know what they are doing. 
And yes, its pretty frustrating.  Just like pissing in the wind.

Yeah, that was me...I'm just mostly reading now.

good job guys. saw this on yahoo the other day when checking my mail. making national headlines!

can anyone summarize the posts that didnt sit well with the HPD?

good job guys. saw this on yahoo the other day when checking my mail. making national headlines!

can anyone summarize the posts that didnt sit well with the HPD?

The truth

good job guys. saw this on yahoo the other day when checking my mail. making national headlines!

can anyone summarize the posts that didnt sit well with the HPD?

I won't summarize, but if you look above the documents are linked at our press release page.

You are looking for the Exhibits to the complaint.

I've updated with some of the press we have received in this case (seen in originating post).  Many people have not grasped that there was lots of planning and effort that went into this suit.  This case was an issue of first impression across the United States, we are literally breaking  new ground in Free Speech.  To say that the legal eagles of the 1st Amendment were just interested, would be a total understatement, especially when organizations like ACLU, Electronic Frontier Foundation, First Amendment center and others are weighing in for our issue.  Many lawyers and attorneys have weighed in on these issues (and to date, I have not seen one that opined against our position).


We are currently headed to court tomorrow morning on the 5th.  We will know more there.  At this point, we have essentially won.  Our members have been unbanned; other people have been unbanned.  HPD is currently not deleting comments or anything similar.

Thanks for the update.  Keep fighting the good fight!

Thanks for the update.  Keep fighting the good fight!