[mhking]

If I were the defense lawyer, I'd request the judge instruct the jury that, as a matter of law, they were protected political speech.

Given that FR is a privately owned & operated site, the speech wouldn't be protected as far as I can see it.

That's akin to demanding a guarantee to was poetic on DU. They're within the rights to yank you, just as we are.

And "protected speech" when directed specifically at individuals (i.e., those he pinged specifcally) would most likely constitute personal harassment.

[jude24]

I may be naive, but I cannot believe any jury could be cajoled into believing that post was political in content. Thats why the banning is beyond question. But I don't think he did anything illegal, because he was an authorized user at the time he posted them (even though he was abusing those privileges), and because the content was inherently political.

The only thing I think we could hang our hat on was that "all n-----rs and jews" was directed specifically to appropriate minorities. (Which is odd - that indicates a fair amount of knowledge of the players here.)