Elliott Madison (also spelled as Elliot Madison), along with Michael Wallschlaeger, was arrested by the Pennsylvania state police after using Twitter messages to relay information from police scanners and maps to protestors of the G-20 summit in Pittsburgh. They were charged with "hindering apprehension or prosecution, criminal use of a commnication facility, and possession of instruments of crime". According to Martin Stolar, Madison's attorney, the charge of hindering prosecution arose from the fact that Madison announced that the police had issued an order to disperse to the protestors.

A week after the G-20 summit arrest, Joint Terrorism Task Force agents searched Madison's New York home and seized his property, including his computers and the records he keeps for his occupation as a mental health facility counselor. Elena Madison, Jennifer Sobolewski, Michael Wallschlaeger, James Weiss, Irina Weiss, and Maik Hasenbank were also residents of this address at the time. The search warrant used in the search "asked for evidence that indicated...[potential] violations of federal rioting laws." If Madison is found guilty of violating the rioting law (18 U.S.C. §2101), he could face a penalty of up to five years in prison. Madison asked the court for a temporary order to prevent officials from examining the seized property until the court had the opportunity to examine the search warrant.  He also filed a motion to recover the seized property. Stolar argued that the search was unconstitutional and violated Madison's free speech rights. However, an Eastern District New York judge ruled that the government's search was not illegal and lifted the temporary stay, finding that the search warrant was "sufficiently particular and in compliance with the First Amendment".

The criminal charges in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania were dropped after the New York investigation commenced, as the law enforcement agencies felt that the G-20 activities "were not isolated incidents." Madison has not been charged in New York yet, and although he has attempted to appeal the court's order, officials are not prohibited from examining the property that they seized.

Dean Zuleger, the Village Administrator in Weston, Wisconsin, sent a letter to Paul Klocko, a local businessman, demanding that he cease making anonymous derogatory statements about him on the website for the Wausau Daily Herald.  Klocko had posted his comments on the Daily Herald's website after Zuleger was named Person of the Year by the paper.  According to the Associated Press:

Readers anonymously flooded the Wausau Daily Herald's Web site with comments bashing Zuleger's salary, his management style, his weight. One person suggested his third chin should have been nominated.

''I have just two words for Dean Zuleger, and they are ... A) anger management. B) salad bar. C) Rod Blagojevich. D) all of the above. The correct answer is D.,'' one posting read.

Zuleger asked the Daily Herald for the identity of the user behind the comments, and the newspaper complied with his request by releasing the e-mail address associated with Klocko's username.  Zuleger contacted the Daily Herald and demanded to know the identify of the commenter and the paper handed over one critic's e-mail address.

Zuleger then sent a letter on his official stationery, telling Klocko to stop the personal attacks and ''come out from behind the cloak'' and meet him.

The Daily Herald later apologized to Klocko for revealing his identity and the paper's corporate parent, Gannett Co., has clarified its policies on anonymous speech, stating that it will release information only if ordered by a court or if a comment contains a threat of imminent harm.

No lawsuit has been filed.

Florida state authorities charged Robert Brayshaw with a misdemeanor for violating Fla. Stat. § 843.17 after he anonymously posted the name, address, and telephone number of a Tallahassee Police Department officer on RateMyCop.com.  Section 843.17 prohibits publication of a law enforcement officer's residential address or telephone number with the intent to intimidate, hinder, or interrupt any law enforcement officer in the legal performance of his or her duties.  The Tallahassee police obtained Brayshaw's identity after subpoenaing records from RateMyCop.com and Brayshaw's ISP, according to Wired.

Prosecutors voluntarily dropped the charges on December 9 and then refiled 10 days later, according to an article on RateMyCop.com. The state court judge ultimately dismissed the charges with prejudice for failure to comply with Florida's speedy trial requirements. Brayshaw then filed a complaint in federal court in Florida, seeking a declaration that Section 843.17 violates the First Amendment. According to Brayshaw's complaint, the police officer's name and address are publicly available on the Leon County Clerk of Court's website.  On April 30, 2010, Judge Smoak issued a decision striking down Section 843.17 as unconstitutional under the First and Fourteenth Amendments.

Planned Parenthood and the other plaintiffs sued the American Coalition of Life Activists (ACLA) and others for alleged violations of the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act (FACE) and the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO).

Specifically, the plaintiffs objected to the creation of "wanted" posters that listed the names and contact information of various abortion providers and the Nuremberg Files website, which contained anti-abortion advocacy and the names and addresses of over 200 abortion providers, who the site characterized as "war criminals."  The website said that this information would be used in future war crimes trials in "perfectly legal courts once the tide of this nation’s opinion turns against the wanton slaughter of God’s children." Those who brought the lawsuit argued that these materials constituted threats of bodily harm or intimidation prohibited by FACE and RICO.

Originally, a jury in federal court in Oregon awarded the plaintiffs approximately $108 million in punitive damages after finding the website and posters to be "true threats." The federal district judge also prohibited further display of the "wanted" posters.  ACLA brought many appeals, and the case stayed in the court system for years. Ultimately, the the district court ultimately upheld liability and awarded approximately $4.73 million in damages.

The Nuremberg Files no longer attributes its information to ACLA because ACLA members objected to some of the materials on the website.

In June 2009, federal authorities in Chicago charged right-wing New Jersey blogger and Internet radio host Hal Turner with threatening "to assault and murder three United States judges with intent to retaliate against [them] on account of performance of official duties," in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 115(a)(1)(B).

Turner wrote postings on June 2 and 3 calling on his readers to take action in response to a ruling issued by a panel of Seventh Circuit judges.  According to the criminal complaint and indictment, Turner wrote that "These judges deserve to be killed" and posted pictures of the judges, their work addresses, and a photo of the federal building where they work.  Turner pled not guilty to the charges.

In September 2009, a federal judge in Chicago transferred the case to the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey. The trial was then transferred to the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York, in Brooklyn, but with a federal judge from Louisiana -- U.S. District Court Judge Donald Walter of  the United States District Court for the Western District of Louisiana-- presiding.

The trial, which began December 1, 2009, ended with a mistrial after a day and a half of testimony and a day and a half of deliberations, when the jury announced that it was deadlocked.

The retrial is scheduled to begin March 1, 2010.

Update:

03/10/2010 - The AP reports that the court declared a second mistrial on Wednesday, March 10 due to juror deadlock.