Reason speaks

[bigsky]

http://reason.com/blog/2015/06/19/government-stifles-speech

[CitizenBBN]

A chilling example of what is happening to America.

There is virtually no chance of winning a case here, esp in light of the SCOTUS decision, and there is no threat to this judge, so what's the point? the only thing left is intimidation to keep people in line, keep them from being unruly towards judges, keep folks in line.

If this was an isolated thing, one prosecutor with issues, OK, but as the article points out this is a common occurrence, both the request for information and the intimidation to keep it from becoming public.

There's always been government intimidation, the pushy sheriff who threatens trouble if you don't get in line, but there was far less government then, esp. at the federal level, and the electronic age has allowed them to reach out en masse in a way they couldn't have in the past.

No doubt there are times when internet comments need to be investigated, but I'd start with the lunatic comments of the colorado movie killer and this kid in Charleston, identifiable mental health issues and not so much threats, and we'd be a lot better off.

[KeithKSR]

I find the government's increasingly staunch stand against the civil rights of everyday Americans to be quite disconcerting.