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Home > United States v Indymedia.us

United States v Indymedia.us [1]

Submitted by DMLP Staff on Wed, 12/02/2009 - 18:55

Summary

Threat Type: 

Subpoena

Date: 

01/23/2009

Status: 

Concluded

Disposition: 

Withdrawn

Location: 

Indiana

Verdict or Settlement Amount: 

$0.00

Legal Claims: 

None
In January 2009, Kristina Clair received a grand jury subpoena issued upon application of the United States Attorney for the District of Indiana, Timothy M. Morrison. Ms. Clair is a Linux administrator living in Philadelphia who provides free server space for ... read full description
Parties

Party Receiving Legal Threat: 

Kristina Clair

Type of Party: 

Government

Type of Party: 

Individual

Location of Party: 

  • Indiana

Location of Party: 

  • Pennsylvania

Legal Counsel: 

Timoth M. Morrison - United States Attorney for the District of Indiana; Doris L. Pryor - Assistant United States Attorney

Legal Counsel: 

Kevin Bankston - Electronic Frontier Foundation
Description

In January 2009, Kristina Clair received a grand jury subpoena issued upon application of the United States Attorney for the District of Indiana, Timothy M. Morrison. Ms. Clair is a Linux administrator living in Philadelphia who provides free server space for Indymedia.us [2], an independent news aggregation site with a left-of-center activist orientation. 

The subpoena demanded "all IP traffic to and from www.indymedia.us" on June 25, 2008.  It instructed Ms. Clair to "include IP addresses, times, and any other identifying information," including email addresses, telephone numbers, records of session times and durations, physical addresses, registered accounts, and financial information.  The subpoena also prohibited Ms. Clair from disclosing "the existence of this request unless authorized by the Assistant U.S. Attorney." 

Ms. Clair contacted the Electronic Frontier Foundation, which agreed to represent her.  Kevin Bankston of EFF sent a letter [3] to Doris L. Pryor, the Assistant United States Attorney on the case, explaining that Ms. Clair did not possess the information requested, objecting that the subpoena was not personally served on Ms. Clair, and arguing that disclosure of the requested information would require a court order under federal electronic privacy law.  Further, the letter pointed out that grand jury secrecy requirements do not reach witnesses or prospective witnesses, and therefore the government had no basis to restrain Ms. Clair's speech about the existence of the subpoena.

U.S. Attorney Morrison replied 12 days letter with a one sentence letter informing Bankston that the subpoena had been withdrawn.

Related Links: 

  • CBS News: Justice Dept. Asks for News Site's Visitor Lists [4]
Details

Web Site(s) Involved: 

indymedia.us [2]

Content Type: 

  • Text

Publication Medium: 

Website

Subject Area: 

  • Citizen Journalism
  • Journalism
  • Criminal
  • Anonymity
  • Prior Restraints
Court Information & Documents

Jurisdiction: 

  • Indiana

Source of Law: 

  • United States

Court Name: 

United States District Court for the District of Indiana

Court Type: 

Federal

Case Number: 

09-01-DLP-15-10

Relevant Documents: 

PDF icon 2009-01-23-Indymedia Subpoena.pdf [5]
PDF icon 2009-02-13-EFF Letter.pdf [6]
PDF icon 2009-02-25-Letter Withdrawing Subpoena.pdf [7]

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Source URL (modified on 08/20/2014 - 11:10pm): https://www.dmlp.org/threats/united-states-v-indymediaus

Links
[1] https://www.dmlp.org/threats/united-states-v-indymediaus
[2] http://indymedia.us/en/index.shtml
[3] https://www.dmlp.org/sites/citmedialaw.org/files/2009-02-13-EFF%20Letter.pdf
[4] http://www.cbsnews.com/blogs/2009/11/09/taking_liberties/entry5595506.shtml?tag=mncol;txt
[5] https://www.dmlp.org/sites/dmlp.org/files/sites/citmedialaw.org/files/2009-01-23-Indymedia%20Subpoena.pdf
[6] https://www.dmlp.org/sites/dmlp.org/files/sites/citmedialaw.org/files/2009-02-13-EFF%20Letter.pdf
[7] https://www.dmlp.org/sites/dmlp.org/files/sites/citmedialaw.org/files/2009-02-25-Letter%20Withdrawing%20Subpoena.pdf