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Litigation

Virden lawsuit overturns city campaign restriction

U.S, District Judge Robert Pitman of the Western District of Texas yesterday declared unconstitutional the restriction found in the Austin City Code that restricts...

Appeals court decision draws widespread condemnation

An appellate decision over a TCAD lawsuit has astounded commercial property owners and attorneys who represent them. If the Texas Supreme Court allows it...

Central Health settles Wallace lawsuit

Fired executive signs settlement agreement for $99,316 It’s not the $1 million-plus he sought but Larimen Thaddeus “Larry” Wallace has signed a Settlement Agreement with...

Appeals Court Demands E-mail Release

The Austin-based Third Court of Appeals upheld a trial court’s decision that e-mails sent or received by a county commissioner Adkisson are public records and must be released to the requestor.

Locals United Against Citizens United

Locals United Against Citizens United

Pay 2 Play documentary, panel discussion focus
on reducing influence of big money in elections

by Ken Martin
© The Austin Bulldog 2015
Posted Friday January 23, 2015 11:52am
Updated Friday January 23, 2015 12:24pm

Panelists Craig McDonald, Sara Smith, Smitty Smith, Caroline Homer, and Christina PuentesOn the fifth anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court’s January 21, 2010, decision in Citizens United v. Federal Elections Commission, a sold-out showing of a documentary, followed by an hour-long panel discussion, indicates there is considerable local interest in overturning corporate personhood and money as free speech.

The film by John Ennis, Pay 2 Play: Democracy’s High Stakes, released in September 2014, was shown to a full house of about a hundred people at the Alamo Drafthouse Village Wednesday evening. The 90-minute documentary focuses on multiple congressional elections in Ohio, the corrosive effects of unlimited spending from such figures as the Koch Brothers, and features numerous nationally known experts, among them Professor Noam Chomsky, Professor Lawrence Lessig, economist Robert Reich, and convicted lobbyist Jack Abramoff.

The film asserts that for corporations, politics is a game akin to Monopoly that is rigged in their favor. The film also focuses on numerous ways that people are engaging in political struggles across the country to fight back, from the Occupy movement to street artists, from candidates running for office to public protests.

Zimmerman Lawsuit a Costly Boondoggle

“To my memory, your honor—and I’ve been defending libel cases in Austin since 1990—this is the first time a candidate for City Council has ever sued the local media.”

Zimmerman Lawsuit Dismissed and Sanctioned

Zimmerman Lawsuit Dismissed and Sanctioned

The Austin Bulldog’s anti-SLAPP motion approved
after second hearing, damages and cost assessed

by Ken Martin
© The Austin Bulldog 2014
Posted Wednesday January 7, 2015 3:02pm
Updated Wednesday January 7, 2015 4:22pm to define SLAPP

Don ZimmermanCouncil Member Don Zimmerman’s defamation lawsuit against The Austin Bulldog was dismissed today by Judge Amy Clark Meachum of the 201st District Court, based on approval of The Austin Bulldog’s anti-SLAPP motion (to dismiss a Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation).

Zimmerman filed the lawsuit October 15, 2014, during his election campaign, in response to The Austin Bulldog’s article published October 9, 2014. The article was based on court records that say the court ordered he “shall have no possession of or access to” the minor child. The petition that led to the court order states, “Respondent (Zimmerman) has a history or pattern of physical and emotional abuse directed against M.Z. (his daughter Marina Zimmerman).” On June 16, 2014, Zimmerman signed and approved an Agreed Order stating the “Court finds that the material allegations in the petition are true.”

Peter KennedyJudge Meachum awarded defendant Austin Investigative Reporting Project (dba The Austin Bulldog) $8,400 in attorney’s fees for the work of Peter D. Kennedy of Graves Dougherty Hearon & Moody PC, who represented the Bulldog, plus court costs and other expenses of $579, and a sanction of $1,000.

The ruling followed two hearings, held December 18 and January 5, concerning The Austin Bulldog’s motion to dismiss Zimmerman’s lawsuit under the Texas Citizens Participation Act, enacted in 2011 “to encourage and safeguard the constitutional rights of persons to petition, speak freely, associate freely, and otherwise participate in government to the maximum extent permitted by law and, at the same time, protect the rights of a person to file meritorius lawsuits for demonstrable injury.”

Section 27.009 of the Act states if the court orders dismissal the court “shall award” court costs, reasonable attorney’s fees, other expenses, and “sanctions against the party who brought the legal action as the court determines sufficient to deter the party ... from bringing similar actions described in this chapter.”

Bulldog Defends Zimmerman Lawsuit

 

Bulldog Defends Zimmerman Lawsuit

by Ken Martin
© The Austin Bulldog 2014
Posted Tuesday November 25, 2014 8:37pm

The Austin Bulldog has moved to dismiss District 6 candidate Don Zimmerman’s libel lawsuit under Texas’ anti-SLAPP law, the Texas Citizen Participation Act.

The Austin Bulldog argues that Zimmerman’s lawsuit should be promptly dismissed because The Austin Bulldog article and the accompanying e-mail News Alert were accurate reports of the abuse allegations made against him in the judicial proceedings that led to Zimmerman losing all legal right of custody or access to his only daughter.

A copy of The Austin Bulldog’s motion can be found here: Defendant’s Motion to Dismiss Pursuant to Chapter 278, Texas Civil Practices and Remedies Code (113 pages with Exhibits)

Defendant’s Motion to Dismiss Pursuant to Chapter 278, Texas Civil Practices and Remedies Code (22 pages without Exhibits)

If Zimmerman files a response to The Austin Bulldog’s motion, we will post it as well.