Village Trustee Can Get Name of Anonymous Poster

A village trustee can obtain the name of an anonymous internet poster who allegedly posted defamatory statements about her son during a contested election campaign.

The poster, Hipcheck 16, made the posts on a website of a local newspaper during Buffalo Grove trustee Lisa Stone’s election campaign. The trustee sought the name of the poster by filing with the court under an Illinois Supreme Court rule (Rule 224) that allows for discovery for the limited purpose of determining the identity of a potential defendant.

The court allowed a subpoena to the newspaper and ultimately to the internet service provider. Comcast, the service provider for Hipcheck 16, turned over the poster’s name to the court, at which time the poster’s attorney appeared under a “JohnDoe” to request that the name not be given to Ms. Stone.

Hipcheck 16 argued that disclosure of his/her actual name was contrary to the Illinois Citizens Participation Act (Act) which discourages SLAPP (Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation) suits.

The court found that the Act did not apply in the case. “First, a petition to discover the identity of a potential defendant is not a lawsuit and it does not allege injury. Second, even if the petition were deemed to be a claim under the Act, whether the allegedly defamatory speech is not genuinely aimed at procuring government action raises fact questions which are entirely outside the scope of a Rule 224 proceeding.”

The court further found that while anonymous political speech is protected by the First Amendment, “immunity from prior restraint or damages is not the same as immunity from suit. Doe has cited no authority to this court which holds that a man may utter a lie and escape the consequences.”

The court ordered the name turned over to Plaintiff to determine if she would file a lawsuit for damages against the poster.

Stone v. Paddock Publications, Inc., Cook County Circuit Court, Law Division, 09 L 5636.