Prankster doesn't come forward
By EditorA pranskster who was given one last chance by GOP State Chairman Tom Wilson to apologize for impersonating him in e-mails to several Republican County Chairmen, did not meet a 9AM deadline. Wilson and his attorney are expected to file a criminal charges and push Yahoo! to release his or her name.
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Criminal Charges?
What criminal charges? Any prosecutor worth his salt won't take the bait. And Yahoo! should know better. This was a joke and caused no harm other than getting county chairmen to give their true feelings on what a debacle the Republican nominating contest has become.
It would seem to me
It would seem to me that anyone who wants to pretend to be Tom Wilson has a prima facie case of insanity.
I don't see the problem
Tom Wilson has been pretending to be the GOP chair for a long time. Is it just that the prankster did a better job of it?
Tom should sue Gore
For inventing the Internet!
GO AFTER A REAL CROOK
Why don't you spend your time and money going after a real crook like your ex-partner, Bob Stears. After all, he just didn't just play internet pranks. He committed real crimes. You need a serious reality check, Tom.
Wilson won't sue
Because if Wilson sues, the prankster also gets to put Wilson under oath in a counter deposition and the prankster's lawyer will get to ask Wilson ANY question under the sun. Democrats will be lining up with a list of questions for the prankster's lawyer to ask Wilson.
I doubt Wilson wants that kind of exposure!
This is not that black and
This is not that black and white and there is no guarentee a crime was committed. My understanding of the law is that pretending to be someone is not criminal unless you can show that there was some intent to use the false persona to gain access to some type of personal information that is legally protected under privacy laws. Seeking out opinions from county chairmen would not fall under this category.
That said, there could be an action for libel, although this would be a stretch. As a public figure, he would have to prove malicious intent and verifiable damages which is probably not possible.
Whoever did this made a dumb mistake and thought they were being funny. Wilson is probably just hoping that they can find out who it is and link it to the Sabrin campaign.
Don't take the bait. There is no criminal wrongdoing because the e-mailer did not pretend to be him to get any legally protected information and there is no civil suit because he was not damaged and he is a public figure.
No judge is going to order the exposing of an anonymous posters/e-mailer/blogger unless a case can be made. In this case, it is not possible.
IF THE PRANKSTER IS READING THIS - call a lawyer who deals with online privacy issues.
I have no real personal interest in this but I just hate when thin skinned public officials try to expose anonymous emailers or bloggers.
For all you would be lawyers out there
it is absolutely a crime to impersonate someone for the purpose of benefiting yourself or harming someone else and it doesn't have to be for monetary or financial gain. In this case the emails seem to be aimed at harming unanue and there was clearly an impersonation. also, election law prohibits someone from pretending to be affliated with a political party or a campaign for the purpose of impeding that campaign or party. It even makes it a crime. Isn't that exactly what was done here?
Did Wilson get this fired up
Did Wilson get this fired up about Arango giving Democrat Healy $1500 to his Healy2009 fund last May?
Just asking.
Typical
It's good to know he is focused on winning elections...
Tom Wilson equals hot mess
But then again the Dems have Donald Crisitello running for US Senate. Crazy crazy world!
"it is absolutely a crime to
"it is absolutely a crime to impersonate someone for the purpose of benefiting yourself or harming someone else"
Can you prove the intention was to harm or just joke around.
"also, election law prohibits someone from pretending to be affliated with a political party or a campaign for the purpose of impeding that campaign or party."
Again, there is no evidence whatsoever that this was done for that purpose.
As a public official, the burden to prove this is high. Because of first amendment concerns, a judge will not order the release of an anonymous e-mailer/blogger without strong evidence, not circumstansial, that there was an intent to harm someone or impede a campaign.
And people wonder why the NJGOP is a mess. They focus on crap like this. A cease and desist letter would have been more than suffice.