In re Jimmie P. Cokinos [1]

Jimmie Cokinos, a former Jefferson County Commissioner, petitioned a Texas state court for permission to issue a subpoena to Time Warner Cable seeking the identity of a subscriber. The subscriber, using the pseudonym "recall+carl01," had sent a series of emails to voters at the time Cokinos was (unsuccessfully) seeking re-election. The emails criticized Cokinos and other public officials for allegedly making wasteful public expenditures and satirized them by placing photographs of their heads on photographs of characters from "Hogan's Heroes" and "Star Wars." In his petition, Cokinos alleged that the emails were defamatory and violated the Texas Election Code.

When Time Warner notified its subscriber of the subpoena, the pseudonymous emailer moved to quash the subpoena with the help of the Public Citizen Litigation Group [2]. Doe argued that the First Amendment protected his/her right to speak anonymously and that the emails contained legitimate criticism, not defamatory statements. The court agreed and granted the motion to quash.