DeRosa v. Rattanni [1]

On November 20, 2009, Thomas DeRosa, Chairman of the Forward Township Board of Supervisors, issued a subpoena seeking discovery from Richard S. Rattanni, the operator of the website elizabethboro.com, in order to identify the posters of allegedly defamatory comments on that website. The subpoena was issued as part of a lawsuit filed by DeRosa on  November 19, 2009 in the Court of Common Pleas for Allegheny County against two Doe defendants,  asserting claims for defamation.

According to news reports from the Pittsburg Tribune-Review, the at issue in the litigation are a series of anonymous posts made on the Elizabeth Area Discussion Board, hosted by the website elizabethboro.com. Also according to the Tribune-Review, the posts at issue alleged that DeRosa hired family members to perform work on a recently completed bridge repair project in the Township, and call DeRosa a liar.

The court granted DeRosa leave to seek discovery from Rattanni on November 24, 2009.  On January 6, 2010, the American Civil Liberties Union of Pennsylvania filed a motion for protective order seeking to squash the subpoena on behalf of Rattanni.

Update:

03/03/10 - The court held a hearing on Rattanni's motion to quash.  According to one press account [2], the court determined that Rattanni had standing to assert the First Amendment rights of his readers.