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Pro-family activism that makes a difference! | ||||
Homosexual activist suing MassResistance for $1 million handed big court defeats -- but continues threats.
POSTED: July 29, 20121. Convicted sex offender suing MassResistance handed major court defeats!Adam Flanders, a Maine homosexual activist and convicted sex offender who is suing Brian Camenker of MassResistance for $1 million claiming "defamation," has received some big defeats in the Maine court system during the past few weeks.
In addition, Flanders has threatened the web hosting companies of MassResistance and of numerous other web sites and Internet news agencies that have reported or commented on this incident. (1.) Flanders loses his appeal of sex conviction before Maine Supreme CourtA part of Flanders' arsenal against MassResistance has been to state that his conviction for sexually molesting a boy was being appealed, and that before long, the conviction would be overturned by a more reasonable court. Well, it didn't happen that way. On June 28, the Maine Supreme Court issued an order denying Flanders' appeal. The conviction stands. Given the egregious nature of what he did, we're not at all surprised. (2.) Injunction against MassResistance -- DENIED by judge!
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Flanders' strategy has been to contact the web hosting companies of pro-family organizations that post this information threaten them with legal action. A main thrust of Flanders' threats involves the phony "harassment order" he got against Camenker. He has claimed that constitutes an official statement by the State of Maine that simply posting the material is "harassment" and "stalking" against him -- and is thus legally actionable. Most web companies have caved in when faced with that. |
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So on June 12, Flanders went back to District Court and filed a motion for a "temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction." He even managed to get the same judge that issued the original harassment order to hear this case. A hearing took place on July 9, but we were never notified of it. So the judge held the hearing with Flanders present and no one to represent MassResistance!
But it backfired. This time the judge didn't agree. It's possible that the outrage generated by the phony nature of the original harassment order caused her to look at this more fairly.
The judge flatly denied Flanders' claims that anything MassResistance has posted constitutes either "harassment" or "stalking" against him, or that the "harassment order" implicitly states anything like that.
The judge added:
"Maine may not punish, through criminal sanction, an individual's actions that are protected by the free speech clause of the First Amendment to the United States Constitution."
Read the judge's order DENYING |
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From the recent threatening emails that Flanders has sent, it appears that Flanders is ignoring the judge's decision and still making those claims to web companies. We have seen at least two occasions, including the VIMEO incident below.
(3.) Flanders makes second request for injunction--DENIED again by same judge!
The day after the Order Denying Preliminary Injunction, Flanders was back in court again, claiming that our more recent material constituted stalking and harassment against him. The same judge denied it again.
See Flanders' second request, denied by judge
This is a classic part of the homosexual movement's strategy: Keep trying over and over, with a flood of legal attacks, until something sticks.
2. Video site VIMEO removes interview with Brian Camenker of MassResistance after threats by Flanders. Also LifeSite News and others affected by threatened.
The news of this outrageous new action by the homosexual movement has even reached Canada!
Camenker interviewed on pro-family radio in British Columbia
We got a call from Kari Simpson of Culture Guard, western Canada's most prominent (and most aggressive!) pro-family organization. They wanted Brian Camenker of MassResistance on their hard-hitting radio program, Road Kill Radio to warn Canadians of the Flanders situation -- what might be in store for them.
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Describing themselves as "Family Freedom Fighters" the Road Kill Radio people have been very effective in getting the truth out, in western Canada. |
Flanders threatens Vimeo, which caves in & removes Camenker interview
Each Road Kill Radio show is subsequently made into a video and posted on Vimeo, an alternative to YouTube on which many news-type groups post their material.
Almost immediately, Flanders contacted VIMEO and threatened them. And Vimeo, which is located in New York City, capitulated in a New York minute! Without any warning, Vimeo removed the interview with Brian Camenker, claiming it was "violating our guidelines."
The Canadians were justifiably outraged, and vowed not to be intimidated. So we stepped in and re-posted it on the MassResistance website! The video of the Road Kill Radio interview with Brian Camenker can still be heard.
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VIDEO: You can watch it HERE:The interview with Brian Camenker that was banned by Vimeo. RoadKill Radio |
Road Kill Radio subsequently contacted Flanders offering to interview him and let him tell his side of the story. He emailed them back declining the offer, and he threatened to sue them. In his email he mentioned his $1 million "defamation" lawsuit against MassResistance, which he said he is "confident" he will win.
Contact Vimeo: If anyone's content can be removed because a homosexual activist decides to issue a threat, then no one is safe. Let Vimeo know that they can no longer be trusted, and why you won't ever use them. You can email them at rights@vimeo.com. |
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Flanders threatens LifeSiteNews - which DIDN'T back down!
Earlier we reported that WorldNetDaily did two news articles on the Flanders incident. When Flanders subsequently threatened them, they caved in and removed the articles from their site. (They are still removed!)
So when LifeSiteNews started reporting on this, Flanders immediately threatened them and their hosting company. But LifeSiteNews believes in the First Amendment and along with their web host company refused to cave in. Not only that, they have done MORE research on Flanders and his sordid criminal background.
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LifesiteNews responded to Flanders' threats by stating that they won't be intimidated. |
LifeSiteNews is to be commended for its bravery. Here are the three articles they've done so far on this issue:
LifeSiteNews: July 12: Pro-family leader "SLAPPed" with $1 million nuisance lawsuit from registered sex offender
LifeSiteNews: July 16: LifeSiteNews threatened by Maine homosexual over July 12 story
LifeSiteNews: July 18: Convicted gay sex offender loses initial bid to muzzle pro-family website MassResistance
More websites threatened by Flanders
Americans For Truth. When Peter LaBarbera, president of Americans for Truth about Homosexuality (AFTAH) heard about the threats against MassResistance, he offered to stand with us and post Flanders' material directly on his site also. Sure enough, Flanders threatened his web hosting company. But after the company got a very strongly worded letter from Peter's lawyer, they decided that Flanders wasn't worth pandering to! Bravo, Peter, for your principled stand!
Website in Saskatchewan. Last week we got a call from a man in Saskatchewan. His group, Free North America had posted material on this issue, and Flanders had threatened his web hosting company, which was about to take his site down. But he wasn't backing down, either. He's talked his web host into ignoring Flanders, and vowed to fight to the finish! You gotta love those Canadians.
3. Thomas More Society, national pro-family legal group, steps up to represent MassResistance in $1 million lawsuit.
Some GREAT news: The Thomas More Society, a renowned national pro-family legal group based in Chicago, contacted us and offered to defend Brian Camenker and MassResistance in the $1 million "defamation" lawsuit. They have already gotten started and we are extremely pleased.
This isn't going to be easy, but we're confident we're in good hands. Over the years the Thomas More legal team has done some very impressive work in the pro-family arena, and they are unabashedly aggressive when they need to be.
Other legal groups
We also were contacted by early on by Liberty Counsel and recently by the Alliance Defense Fund (ADF). Both groups declined to take on the lawsuit, but have offered to help in other ways if called on. This past week Liberty Counsel did some background research on some of the legal issues.
The homosexual movement's emerging strategy to crush free speech
We're seeing that the national pro-family legal community has recognized that this new strategy by the homosexual movement is dangerous and must be stopped. Their aggressive and often fraudulent use of any possible legal device or threat to silence and destroy pro-family opposition to their activities, mixed with friendly courts, is truly frightning. What's happening to MassResistance -- and also to Scott Lively -- is clearly the vanguard of a new effort that could have terrible consequences. It needs to be effectively countered immediately.
4. Local police chief backs off on statements supporting Flanders.
We recently reported that Flanders' signed statement in his lawsuit includes quotes from his local police chief in Belfast, Maine Chief of Police Michael McFadden, stating that Flanders' conviction for Sexual Abuse of a Minor is "very minor" and "equivalent to stealing a candy bar." Flanders has also been emailing an audio recording of McFadden making those comments. In addition, Flanders states in his lawsuit that Chief McFadden told him that they are investigating Camenker to see if they can charge him with criminal acts.
When we talked with McFadden several weeks ago, he would not discuss any of his statements attributed to him by Flanders.
So on July 18, Chief McFadden talked with a reporter from LifeSiteNews to give his side of the story. McFadden said he received a lot of negative feedback from around the country about it.
He told LifeSiteNews that his comments regarding the Flanders' conviction were made while attempting to elicit a confession from Flanders (who subsequently got the audio recording of that session in the police station) and do not reflect the police chief's actual beliefs about the case in any way. McFadden added that he never said anything to Flanders about investigating Camenker about criminal acts.
We'll see what happens when all this moves forward.
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