ACORN/Project Vote retreat from bully lawsuit against whistleblower
Last June, I told you about the speech-squelching attempt by ACORN/Project Vote to silence one of its most potent critics — former Project Vote official-turned-whistleblower Anita MonCrief.
Good news to report, via the Center for Individual Rights:
Today an abrupt end came to a lawsuit that Project Vote, an affiliate of the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN), had launched against Anita MonCrief, a vocal critic of both groups. The federal judge hearing the case ordered all claims dismissed based on a stipulation by the parties. Project Vote had sued MonCrief and an unidentified “John Doe” for $5 million in damages.
MonCrief worked for Project Vote for two years but became disillusioned by what she experienced there. In various venues, including testimony in court and before a congressional panel, on national television, and in her own blog, she detailed what she regarded as the corruption of both Project Vote and ACORN.
Project Vote’s lawsuit, filed last year in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, featured a slew of counts, including trademark infringement, tortious interference with prospective economic advantage, and trespass to chattels. Represented by the Kansas City law firm of Graves, Bartle, Marcus & Garrett and the Center for Individual Rights (CIR), MonCrief countersued both Project Vote and ACORN for abuse of process, alleging that ACORN was Project Vote’s alter ego and that the two groups had brought the suit to punish her for exercising her right to free speech and to uncover her sources.
Late last year, the judge dismissed the trademark claims, among others, but the rest of Project Vote’s suit and MonCrief’s countersuit against it and ACORN continued into the pretrial discovery phase. Before that phase went very far, however, the parties agreed to a settlement. In return for MonCrief’s dropping her countersuit for abuse of process, Project Vote agreed to dismiss its claims against her in their entirety.
“This is a stunning victory for Ms. MonCrief,” said Terry Pell, CIR’s president. “By dismissing all of its claims, Project Vote has canceled its arrogant attempt to silence a critic using the courts. Ms. MonCrief now is completely free to continue blogging and speaking about Project Vote and ACORN without fear of this action.”
Pell added, “And the utter failure of Project Vote’s suit should encourage others who wish to speak out against corruption at ACORN or anywhere else.”
The only way to defeat the Left’s thugs is to stand up, fight back, and turn the tables. The victory for MonCrief, Graves, Bartle, Marcus & Garrett, and the Center for Individual Rights is a victory for all watchdogs targeted by the “community organizing” racketeers. Be not afraid.
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Absolutely…thanks Michelle some good news for a change!!
I read this yesterday. I am SO happy for Anita. Way to go, keep up the great work, please be safe.
L
Cheers to Anita Moncrief…good things are in her future.
This is great news for those of us who still believe in the ideal that this is a nation of laws, not of men.
Great job by Ms. Moncrief’s legal team!
Now…
on to OPERATION OVER-REACH…!!!
Thank you for your important contribution to our country, Ms. Moncrief.
Now, perhaps Toyota Corp. has an opening for you…….
Agreed.
So, will you stand up, fight back, and turn the tables on NBC-gate?
I wonder if her legal fees were covered in the settlement.
EMT Bill,
I don’t know about Anita’s legal fees, but I bet we taxpayers were paying for the suit against Anita with acorn funds our gov. says they gotta get.
L
Good for her and congratulations but how much did defending this suit cost her? Annihilation by litigation is an old trick used by too many bad people. FDR used IRS audits to silence and destroy opponents and this legacy has been used by Presidents since. The BATF&E uses audits to shut down gun stores for weeks on end when they know for sure no violations were committed. DEA, FTC and the FDA have all been used to silence critics. But fight back we must.
I hope she was not out there all alone.
Toyota? She might want to wait on that-they are about to not do well.
NEVER PUT ANYTHING IN WRITING YOU DO NOT YOUR ENEMIES TO KNOW
Take heart, people.
This is a good time.
http://hindenblog1.blogspot.com/2010/04/humanity-on-fast-balls-and-swinging-for.html
Read that, and see if you don’t agree.
Ragspierre,
That was good! We can hope (not this bho type of hope) and pray our Republic will be given another chance if we get people who will go to dc and do what the say they will do to make our country great again.
L
Very cool! Congratulations Anita, well done.
Thank you Anita.
Hey GOP, ask Anita if you can borrow them!
I guarantee you they gave up because the flow of public money into their pig trough has dried up – and because they were about to get hammered in court.
Yes! Former ACORN people…please speak out about the truth!
Sunshine IS the best disinfectant.
Thanks, Anita.
Thanks very kindly, letget.
Tell your friends and neighbors, and stop by any time…
Comments are wide open and appreciated.
Quite like CAIR when the ROACHES have to actually go into court and discovery would have begin they always SCURRY away! Congratulations to Anita!
Congrates to Ms. Moncrief, good job, well done and thank you for your efforts.
Most importantly, it gives a considerable boost to MonCrief’s veracity. She must have truly put the fear of God into them with what she has.
Stand up to a bully, and they always cave.
As they say in my Navy: Bravo Zulu, Ms. MonCrief. Your victory can serve as the inspiration for others to pick up the struggle and forge forward to the inevitable victory that shall be ours!
Improvise, adapt, overcome. There are no obstacles we can’t surmount. It takes determination, love of country, love of family, faith in your God, and guts.
Sometimes, standing in against that wild fastballer, you might feel trepedation; you might have to take one for the team. But know that you are on a team the will be victorious.
As a fairly recent tune says:
The paranoia is in bloom, the PR
The transmissions will resume
They’ll try to push drugs
Keep us all dumbed down and hope that
We will never see the truth around
(So come on!)
Another promise, another scene, another
A package not to keep us trapped in greed
With all the green belts wrapped around our minds
And endless red tape to keep the truth confined
(So come on!)
They will not force us
They will stop degrading us
They will not control us
We will be victorious
(for those unfamiliar, it is Muse – “Uprising”, which is Beck’s radio theme song.)