Janet Reno's sister faces $4.4M civil judgment; activists rally to defend environmentalist's free-

[TexasTowelie]

Janet Reno's sister faces $4.4M civil judgment; activists rally to defend environmentalist's free-speech rights


STUART, Fla. — A coalition of powerful organizations as well as two former U.S. deputy attorneys general are rallying behind a 77-year-old environmental activist and sister of Janet Reno, the late Clinton administration attorney general, in her fight against a $4.4 million jury award that they say stifles her free-speech rights.

Maggy Hurchalla's case affects every person who wants to hold elected officials accountable, and the appeal of her civil liability is critically important, said President Barbara Petersen of the First Amendment Foundation. The coalition, which also includes the Sierra Club and American Civil Liberties Union, filed a brief Sept. 21 in the 4th District Court of Appeal in West Palm Beach, Florida, supporting Hurchalla's right to criticize the government.

"If Maggy wins — and I think she will — people and companies … will think twice about threatening those of us who don't agree with them," Petersen said. "They need to know they can’t stop us simply through intimidation or the threat of a lawsuit.”

Her battle dates to 2013 when Lake Point Restoration, a company that put together a public-private rock-mining and water-treatment project near Lake Okeechobee, sued Hurchalla, a former Martin County commissioner who left office in the 1990s, for interfering with a contract it had with the county government. The company that Miami billionaire George Lindemann Jr. owns based its case largely on emails Hurchalla sent to elected officials in her fight against the project.

Read more: https://www.clarionledger.com/story/news/nation-now/2018/09/28/free-speech-fight-janet-reno-sister/1458611002/