FRHSD will not go to court
to get web posters
FRHSD will not go to court
to get web posters’ names
The Freehold Regional High School District Board of Education will not seek a court order to enforce a subpoena it issued in an attempt to determine the identity of individuals who posted messages on an Internet forum.
On some Internet forums individuals are allowed to post messages by using a screen name. Some Internet sites require people who post messages online to use their real name.
Attorney Marc Zitomer, representing the school board, told Greater Media Newspapers on Oct. 23 that the FRHSD will not seek a court order to obtain the information it sought when it issued the subpoena in August.
Attorney Stuart Moskovitz, who represents some of the online posters whose identities were being sought by the FRHSD, confirmed that the district would not go to court over the matter. Moskovitz is representing 12 of the 20 screen names listed in the board’s subpoena.
The school board took action with the subpoena in an attempt to uncover identifying information about individuals who posted messages in online forums at the NJ.com Internet website.
Last week Zitomer said the board was seeking individuals who made defamatory and threatening statements about district employees and about the district as a whole.
Zitomer told Greater Media Newspapers on Oct. 23 that “the board and some of the individuals who have been the subject of the postings are considering other legal options.”
In light of the news that the FRHSD would not seek a court order to compel the website’s owner to divulge information about online posters, Moskovitz told Greater Media Newspapers, “We believe the school board did the right thing in choosing to halt its activities in connection with the subpoena, which we believe to have been a frivolous venture designed to retaliate against individuals who have serious disagreements with the board’s policies and actions.”
Moskovitz said he and his clients are cognizant of the fact that the school board is reserving its right to look at other options in regard to what the board has considered defamation.
“The board has the right to consider other options, but we would expect that in the process of such consideration, there would be cooler heads prevailing and explaining to the other board members that the business of the school board ought to be educating our children rather than focusing on pursuing personal perceived slights,” Moskovitz said.
During the board’s Oct. 19 meeting — prior to the date when Zitomer said the panel would not seek a court order in its bid to unmask the web posters — members of the public bombarded the board with questions and opinions about the FRHSD’s move to subpoena the identifying information.
Marlboro resident BonnieSue Rosenwald said board members knew for a fact that some of the 20 screen names they subpoenaed information about were not the screen names of district employees, but were the names of private individuals.
She charged that the manner in which the board acted to issue the subpoena was false in light of that fact, since a disciplinary hearing could not be held for an individual who is not employed by the FRHSD.
Rosenwald said no taxpayer money should be expended in this matter. She said if a person believes he or she was defamed or attacked by what was posted online, that individual should pursue legal action on their own and not through the school district.
For the complete story, see the Oct. 28 edition of the News Transcript.
