Shamblin v. Martinez

UPDATE (4/20/2011)

STATUS: Judgment granting defendant's motion for summary judgment was affirmed on April 13, 2011

Tenn. App.: Cult Accusations Lacked Malice, Court Affirms

Courthouse News Service
A Christian weight-loss guru failed to prove that she was defamed by a critic who accused her on the Internet of running a cult, a Tennessee appeals court ruled. Gwen Shamblin, leader of the Remnant Fellowship Church in Brentwood, Tenn., sued Rafael Martinez after he made an allegedly defamatory comment about her on the Celebgalz.com website. . . "We have reviewed the record in the light most favorable to the plaintiffs and have determined that the record does not contain clear and convincing evidence upon which a trier of fact could find actual malice," Judge Richard Dinkins wrote on behalf of the appeals court.
http://www.courthousenews.com/2011/04/18/35887.htm

--Opinion: Shamblin v. Martinez
http://www.tsc.state.tn.us/OPINIONS/TCA/PDF/112/Gwen%20Shamblin%20et%20al%20v%20Rafael%20Martinez.pdf

See also:

Shamblin v. Anonymous Blogger, No. 06648 (Tenn. Dist. Ct., Williamson County filed Nov. 6, 2006).

Gwen Shamblin and 78 members of the Remnant Fellowship Church that she leads sued an anonymous blogger, and Rafael Martinez, who operates the web site spiritwatch.org, for statements labeling the church as a cult and saying that it advocates starvation and torture of children. In April 2007, plaintiff voluntarily dismissed the suit.

Links and Court Documents:
http://www.newschannel5.com/Global/story.asp?S=5909117
http://www.wkrn.com/nashville/news/remnant-church-files-defamation-lawsuit/85157.htm
http://www.tennessean.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070315/NEWS01/703150391 Complaint: http://www.spiritwatch.org/shamblie1.pdf
Defendant’s motion to dismiss: http://www.spiritwatch.org/martinezmotion.pdf
Plaintiff’s notice of voluntary dismissal: http://www.spiritwatch.org/MartinezNoticeOrder-1.pdf
Spirit Watch statements on the suit: http://www.spiritwatch.org/shamblie2.htm

Ligonier Ministries, Inc. v. Vance, No. ________ (Fla. Cir. Ct., Seminole County filed Aug. 2006).
Status: Dismissed at request of plaintiff.

A religious organization sued a critic, Frank Vance, for comments posted on his blog about the group and its leaders at vancetribe.blogspot.com. The religious group also sought a court order prohibiting additional postings. The organization dropped the case in late September 2006.

Links and Court Documents:
http://www.citmedialaw.org/ligonier-ministries-v-vance
http://ministrywatchman.com/wp-content/uploads/orlando_sentinel092906.html
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/local/seminole/orl-blog0506sep05,0,931489.story?track=rss
http://www.worldmagblog.com/blog/archives/026345.html
Complaint: http://ministrywatchman.com/wp-content/uploads/Ligonier_Ministries_v_Vance_complaint.pdf
Plaintiff’s emergency motion for ex parte hearing: http://ministrywatchman.com/wp-content/uploads/Ligonier_Ministries_vs_Vance_Ex_Parte.pdf

Tendler v. Doe, No. 1-06-cv-064507 (Cal. Super. filed 2006); also see Tendler v. Doe, No. ________ (Ohio C.P. filed Feb. 2006)
Status: Discovery order issued; denial of attempt to enforce order in California reversed and remanded for further proceedings (164 Cal.App.4th 802, 79 Cal.Rptr.3d 407, 36 Media L. Rep. 2025 (Cal.App., 6 Dist., June 10, 2008)).

Orthodox Jewish rabbi Mordechai Tendler of New Hempstead, N.Y., was expelled from the Rabbinical Council of America in March 2005 and dismissed by his congregation in 2006 after several women accused him of sexual abuse and harassment.

Various blogs, including www.rabbinicintegrity.blogspot.com, www.jewishsurvivors.blogspot.com, www.jewishwhistleblower.blogspot.com and www.newhempsteadnews.blogspot.com, anonymously reported on these developments.

Tendler filed a libel lawsuit in Ohio against the anonymous bloggers, and as a preliminary matter obtained a court order ordering Google, owner of blogspot.com, to reveal the bloggers’ identities.

The company refused to obey the Ohio order, so Tendler filed suit in California state court. In that court, the bloggers responded by filing a motion to strike under the state’s anti-SLAPP statute. Although Tendler then withdrew the suit, the California judge held that the suit would have been dismissed under the anti-SLAPP law and that Tendler must still pay the defendants’ legal expenses.

Links and Court Documents:
http://www.citizen.org/pressroom/release.cfm?ID=2233
http://www.citmedialaw.org/threats/tendler-v-does
California appeals decision: http://www.courtinfo.ca.gov/opinions/nonpub/H031130.PDF

Bible & Gospel Trust v. Twinam, Civil No. 2:07-CV-17 (D. Vt. filed Jan. 25, 2007).
Status: Defense motion to dismiss pending, July 18, 2008

The Exclusive Brethren religious group sued Timothy Twinam, the formerly anonymous owner of the www.peebs.net website, which calls the group a cult. The religious group alleges that the site threatened to publish documents in which the group claims exclusive copyright, causing “tortous interference” of the pre-trial settlement of a prior suit brought against blogger Richard Wyman of another site, www.exclusivebrethren.com. Twinam filed a motion to dismiss under Vermont’s anti-SLAPP statute. A federal magistrate recommended that the court deny the motion, 2008 WL 5216845 (D. Vt. July 18, 2008), but the district judge rejected the recommendation, and the motion is still pending.

Links and Court Documents:
Court documents: http://peebs.net/ExclusiveBrethrenNews/Press/Backgrounder-20080220.pdf

Milo v. Martin, No. _______ (Tex. Dist. Ct., Montgomery County, 284th Dist. dismissed Dec. 31, 2008).
Status: Summary judgment granted to defendant

Community activist Walter Milo Sr. and Rev. Anthony Shelton sued the editors of The Watchdog, a print and web publication focusing on local issues in Conroe, Tex., for comments posted in the bulletin board section of the publication’s web site referring to Shelton as a “pulpit pimp” and alleging that Milo committed a drug crime in 2005. The court dismissed the case on the grounds that the publication was immune from liability under section 230 of the Communication Decency Act. Rev. Shelton has vowed to appeal the dismissal.

Links and Court Documents:
http://hcnonline.com/articles/2009/01/04/conroe_courier/news/watchdog0103.txt
http://www.hcnonline.com/articles/2009/01/11/conroe_courier/news/watchdog0111.txt

In the Matter of Sarah Doe and Mary Doe, Pet. Nos. NNG-06-000012 and NNG-06-000012 (R.I. Fam Ct. 2008).
Status: Injunction issued; cert. denied, (R.I. 2008).

In January 2008, a family court judge ordered retired minister Rev. Anne Grant, who heads the Parenting Project at the Mathewson Street United Methodist Church in Providence, to remove material from her “The Custody Scam” blog (www.custodyscam.blogspot.com) relating the story of the custody dispute over two girls. (Although the girls’ names are not given on the blog, they and their mother are pictured.) Grant asked the Rhode Island Supreme Court to review the case, but it declined.

Links and Court Documents:
http://www.projo.com/news/content/family_court_blog_01-13-08_708FD4V_v77.26ca149.html
http://committeetoprotectbloggers.org/2008/01/13/us-courts-pendulum-back/
Certorari petition: http://www.projo.com/news/2008/pdf/bender_petition_2007.pdf
http://lawandmore.typepad.com/law_and_more/2008/01/ri-supreme-co-1.html

Tendler v. Doe, No. ________ (Ohio C.P. filed Feb. 2006)
Status: Discovery order issued; attempt to enforce order in California denied.
see also Tendler v. Doe, No. 1-06-cv-064507 (Cal. Super. filed 2006)

Orthodox Jewish rabbi Mordechai Tendler of New Hempstead, N.Y., was expelled from the Rabbinical Council of America in March 2005 and dismissed by his congregation in 2006 after several women accused him of sexual abuse and harassment. Various blogs, including www.rabbinicintegrity.blogspot.com, www.jewishsurvivors.blogspot.com, www.jewishwhistleblower.blogspot.com and www.newhempsteadnews.blogspot.com, anonymously reported on these developments. Tendler filed a libel lawsuit in Ohio against the anonymous bloggers, and as a preliminary matter obtained a court order ordering Google, owner of blogspot.com, to reveal the identities of the bloggers.

The company refused to obey the Ohio order, so Tendler filed suit in California state court.

Links and Court Documents:
http://www.citizen.org/pressroom/release.cfm?ID=2292
http://www.citizen.org/pressroom/release.cfm?ID=2235
http://www.citizen.org/pressroom/release.cfm?ID=2233
California appeals decision: http://www.courtinfo.ca.gov/opinions/nonpub/H031130.PDF

NXIVM Corporation and First Principles, Inc. v. The Ross Institute, Civil No. 03-976, 2003 WL 22298756 (N.D.N.Y. preliminary injunction denied Sept. 9, 2003), aff’d, 364 F.3d 471 (2d Cir. April 20, 2004), cert. denied, 543 U.S. 1000 (U.S. Nov 29, 2004).

Status: Transferred to D. N.J. (Feb. 2006) (see above).

The organization NXIVM, which provides an expensive training program called “Executive Success" and requires participants to sign a non-disclosure agreement, sued a "cult de-programmer" and two writers who authored and posted on the Internet a report on plaintiff’s program using quotes from their copyrighted seminar manual. The defendants posted the material, which they obtained from a former seminar participant, on their web site. The federal district court denied a preliminary injunction barring the defendants from using the materials. The appeals court agreed, and the U.S. Supreme Court declined to review the decision.

In February 2006, the case was transferred to federal court in New Jersey (see above).

Links and Court Documents:
2d Circuit decision: http://www.ca2.uscourts.gov:81/isysnative/RDpcT3BpbnNcT1BOXDAzLTc5NTJfb3BuLnBkZg==/03-7952_opn.pdf
mentioned in http://www.law.com/jsp/article.jsp?id=1136838328818

Jews for Jesus v. Google, No. 05-CV-10684 (S.D.N.Y. dismissed July 26, 2006)

Status: Settled; Dismissed with prejudice

Jews for Jesus filed suit against Google for trademark infringement over their refusal to remove the URL jewsforjesus.blogspot.com, which expressed views that were critical to the organization. The parties ended up settling the case and the court dismissed the suit with prejudice. The blogspot URL is now operated by the Jews for Jesus organization.

Links and Court Documents

http://www.circleid.com/posts/google_sued_for_trademark_infringement_on_third_level_subdomain/

http://www.citmedialaw.org/threats/jews-jesus-v-google

Complaint: http://www.scribd.com/doc/2693758/Jews-for-Jesus-v-Google-Inc-Document-No-1

Order dismissing case: http://www.scribd.com/doc/2704031/Jews-for-Jesus-v-Google-Inc-Document-No-15

NXIVM Corporation and First Principles, Inc. v. The Ross Institute, Civil No. 06-01051 (D. N.J. transferred March 7, 2006) (transfer from N.D.N.Y.),

Status: Pending

The organization NXIVM sued a "cult de-programmer" and two writers who authored and posted on the Internet a report on plaintiff’s program using quotes from their copyrighted seminar manual. A federal court in New York denied a preliminary injunction barring the defendants from using the materials, which was affirmed (see below). In February 2006, the case was transferred to federal court in New Jersey, where the case is pending. On June 27, the judge granted defendants’ motions to dismiss some of the claims, leaving the trade secret and contractual claims against all defendants, and the copyright claims against the Ross Institute.
In late February 2007, a magistrate judge in another case held that Ross could obtain a report that a lawyer hired by NXIVM prepared as part of an effort to discredit Ross, holding that it was not protected by attorney-client privilege because it had been given to third parties (see NXIVM Corp. v. O'Hara, Civil No. 05-1546 (N.D.N.Y. order Feb. 23, 2007)).

Links and Court Documents:
mentioned in http://www.law.com/jsp/article.jsp?id=1136838328818
article on discovery ruling: http://www.law.com/jsp/article.jsp?id=1173101906318

Landmark Education LLC v. The Rick A. Ross Institute of New Jersey, Civil No. 04-3022 (D. N.J. case dropped Dec. 28, 2005).

Status: Dropped

Landmark Education, which describes itself as “a leader and innovator in the field of training and development,” sued “cult de-programmer” Rick Ross over statements on his website challenging the organization’s legitimacy, and his refusal to post Landmark’s response. But Landmark dropped its case after a New Jersey appeals court ruled in Donato v. Moldrow, 374 N.J. Super. 475 (App. Div. 2005) that a website operator is immune for suit for anonymous postings on the site, under section 230 of the federal Communications Decency Act.

Links and Court Documents:

http://www.citmedialaw.org/landmark-education-llc-v-ross

http://www.cultnews.com/archives/000777.html