Judge throws out conviction of white supremacist

[Judi Lynn]

Source: Chicago Tribune

Judge throws out conviction of white supremacist
Ruling: Online comments don't prove man intended harm
By Annie Sweeney, Tribune reporter
9:41 p.m. CDT, April 19, 2011

A federal judge on Tuesday threw out a jury's conviction of a white supremacist for using his website to solicit an attack on a jury foreman in a separate trial in Chicago.

In a 66-page ruling, U.S. District Judge Lynn Adelman held that prosecutors did not present enough evidence to prove that William White, in his comments on overthrow.com, wanted the foreman harmed. He also ruled that White's postings were protected by the First Amendment.

"The First Amendment protects vehement, scathing and even offensive criticism of others, including individuals involved in the criminal justice system," Adelman wrote.

Attorneys representing White during the trial in January said they knew the language on his website would be hurtful and offensive to many. But they argued that White never directly solicited an attack on Mark Hoffman, the foreman of a 2004 jury that convicted another white supremacist for soliciting the murder of a federal judge in Chicago.

However, the jury convicted White after deliberating for about three hours.




Read more: http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/ct-met-charges-dismissed-white-suprem20110419,0,5037177.story

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http://www.splcenter.org.nyud.net:8090/sites/default/files/legacy/images/dynamic/intel/report/8/ir111_white_200x248.jpg

William A White, Overthrow.com
Wikipedia:

William Alexander "Bill" White (born May 29, 1977) is the leader of the internet-based American National Socialist Workers' Party, and former administrator of Overthrow.com, a now-defunct website dedicated to anti-Zionist and anti-capitalist speech.

White came to public attention in 1996 in a front page article in The Washington Post after he posted allegations about the stepmother of a girl he said was being abused.<1> In 1999 he expressed support for Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, killers of twelve students and a teacher in the Columbine High School massacre, because according to White, they were being oppressed by the United States education system.<2> In 2005, The New York Times quoted White as having "laughed" when United States district court judge Joan Lefkow's husband and mother were murdered<3> because Lefkow had ruled against white supremacist Matthew Hale in a trademark dispute. He told The Roanoke Times that he looked forward to "further killings of Jews and their sympathizers."<4> White is skeptical of the Holocaust, saying "claims that ... the gas chambers were part of a 'Holocaust' of 'six million,' were invented almost entirely by the Soviet Union, and were later adopted by the Jewish communities of the Western nations."<5> The Anti-Defamation League quotes White saying "there was no Holocaust" and describes what they call "White's Holocaust denial rhetoric".<6>

In 2008, White was arrested for alleged threats to a federal juror. The FBI confiscated his computer equipment, resulting in the closure of Overthrow.com. That charge was dismissed in July, 2009. New charges on old cases from 2007 were then brought, and on December 18, 2009, White was found guilty on four counts, one of which was later dismissed. In 2010 the ACLU filed a brief asking the court to reverse White's convictions on those three charges.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/ct-met-charges-dismissed-white-suprem20110419,0,5037177.story

[tularetom]

1. I hate Illinois Nazis

[Enthusiast]

4. Me too

[meegbear]

7. +1

[AnOhioan]

2. A Clinton judge, so much for the idea that Dems appoint only good judges

[joshcryer]

3. Do you have evidence to suggest his comments weren't covered by free speech?

[AnOhioan]

5. Free speech can be a gray area

One cannot yell "fire" in a crowded theater...likewise, one should not be able to post personal information on a website that could endanger the life of the person whose info was revealed.


In this case the judge, imho, overlooked the fact that the defendant had a history of posting urging violence...while he may not have directly threatened the juror in question, the posting of personal data should have been considered a threat.

[muriel_volestrangler]

6. I'd have thought it went beyond free speech:

But they argued that White never directly solicited an attack on Mark Hoffman, the foreman of a 2004 jury that convicted another white supremacist for soliciting the murder of a federal judge in Chicago.
...
Prosecutors argued at trial that in a 2008 Web posting White named Hoffman as the "gay Jewish anti-racist" juror who had helped convict Matthew Hale for the solicitation of the murder of U.S. District Judge Joan Lefkow. White then added personal details about Hoffman — who is not Jewish — on the website, including his color photo, home address, phone numbers and even his cat's name.

Prosecutors argued that other angry postings by White on his website showed that he intended harm to come to those who disagreed with his white supremacist agenda. In one 2005 posting, White called for the "assassination" of anyone involved in the Hale trial.

It seems to me that 2005 posting shows the intent - it wasn't 'offensive', it was a call for people to be killed. And when that is followed up by publishing the foreman's home address and photo, there's a continued intent to facilitate the asked-for murder.

[robcon]

8. Despicable person. But the 1st amendment allows despicable words.

n/t