Phil Cannella Lawsuit First Amendment
Phil Cannella Lawsuit • Phillip Cannella Lawsuit News: Phil Cannella Lawsuit , the First Amendment provides for the freedom of speech as one of the inalienable rights given to us by our forefathers. Furthermore, the right to remaining anonymous is an integral part of this right. Courts have debated cases and ruled on both sides of the line when it comes to matters relating to the freedom of speech.
Phil Cannella Lawsuit • Phillip Cannella Lawsuit
As covered in Part 1 of this article, Phil Cannella faced a major online defamation campaign where unknown individuals hid behind fictitious screen names and used the internet as a medium to exercise what they considered was their First Amendment rights. However, these people exceeded the boundaries of what the law considers freedom of speech by spreading numerous lies. Phil Cannella was facing a major online defamation campaign orchestrated with the avowed intent of taking him out of business.
Proving to the courts that such speech are lies is not easy for judges to rule on as it hits deep into the heart of our First Amendment rights. Bringing a suit against someone on the basis of defamation is costly, time consuming and tough to win. Yet Phil Cannella had to do exactly that not only to defend himself but to defend all of our rights against those who seek to tear us down through lies and rumors.
In early 2012 Phil Cannella filed a lawsuit in federal Court in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania against the anonymous people behind the defamatory blog. However, as the people were anonymous he was unable to name the true identity of the defendants. Courts allow for such litigation to move forward in what is often termed a “John Doe” lawsuit. By filing a suit against a “John Doe” the plaintiff preserves their statute of limitations rights and they can proceed with discovery in order to determine the real identity of the defendants. Once the real identities are known, the lawsuit is then amended to name the real people.
The federal judge presiding over the case granted Phil Cannella the right to proceed with subpoenas and depositions as well as serve the primary anonymous party by an email address listed in the Contact Us section of the defamatory blog.
Over the ensuing months subpoena results came back with a lot of very telling information exposing the identities of the people behind the defamation campaign. Phil Cannella proceeded to file for and request an injunction against the site which was then granted based on no defendants stepping forth to protect their interests. The judge on the case awarded a permanent injunction against the defamatory content and awarded default judgment in Phil Cannella’s favor.
While this battle may sound easy to tell in a few words on a page, the real battle was about upholding real justice, about upholding the real intent of the First Amendment, was about protecting our rights to freedom of speech while not overstepping the boundaries of defamation out of intent to destroy.
Phil Cannella’s perseverance in the face of all opposition was truly heroic. Many others would have crumbled under the pressure of the defamation levelled against him let alone the cost and stress brought about by litigation. Historically speaking that is exactly what has happened to many bright lights who sought to interrupt the status quo. History is pockmarked with individuals who have suffered because they attempted to make a change for the better in the world.
For Phone Cannella it was not about himself, it was about protecting for all the fundamental rights our society is built upon. We cannot take freedom of speech for granted by overstepping the boundaries of that freedom. Many countries in this world don’t allow for anywhere near the basic rights of man as America does. But by abusing that right, it hurts us all.
As Phil Cannella himself so often says, “I wield the sword of truth”; that sword was very firmly pointed and its point pierced the lies ahead of it. Today Phil Cannella is able to move forward with that sword to expose those fleecing the everyday investor and hurting seniors through their misinformation. Phil Cannella proudly stands as a true champion of the people in looking out for our basic rights.
