Here we have the motion for sanctions written by Rauhauser’s Lawyer, Jeffrey Dorrell and signed by the Judge, Cosby. 

My first reaction after reading them was that it was an unprofessional, petty and revengeful motion. More like something Retzlaff or Rauhauser would write rather than a seasoned First Amendment attorney for a law firm charging $550 an hour. 


My second thought was that Neal’s side screwed up again. 

One of my favorite events of 2015 was when Rauhauser bragged to the world about his 1st Amendment victory over Bullyville while encouraging people to retaliate against news website CornfireBlog for breaking the news about the SEC investigation in GAWMiners.  

Neal was fired from his job writing for CryptoCoinsNews for inciting a feud but the irony of Neal’s statements and his obvious lack of comprehension about the first amendment was priceless.    

Whoever wrote these sanctions is just as clueless as Neal about the first amendment, sanctioning McGibney for calling Rauhauser a wife beater is ridiculous.

First, that’s akin to Bill Cosby being accused of rape by 50 different women and pointing to Rape Victim #37 and declaring “You’re lying and defaming me! I never raped you!”  For both Neal and Cosby to protest one accusation draws much more attention to all the other accusations that went unchallenged. 

And secondly, that sanction impinges upon McGibney’s right to free speech. There’s a Daily Kos story where Neal, writing as Iowa Boy, boasts about physically subduing his wife using a martial art called HapKiDo. McGibney is aware of that story and has been in regular communication with Neal’s ex wife. On his knowledge and belief, if McGibney considers Neal a wife beater then it’s his 1st amendment right to express that opinion.

The author of these sanctions also demonstrates a complete misunderstanding of the courts ruling. The court determined Neal had the 1st amendment right to call McGibney a pedophile, they didn’t mean that the 1st amendment applies only to Neal. The ruling was meant to be applied to everyone in the state of Texas, everyone has the right to express an opinion and call someone else a pedophile or a wife beater. 

Writing sanctions in a 1st amendment court case to impinge on someone else’s 1st amendment or to hold them accountable for what someone else says shows an incredible lack of experience with freedom of speech. 

Sanctions ordered by a court cannot impinge on 1st amendment rights or any other civil liberties.