Political correctness aside, there is more to consider then the so called rights of a specific blogger. Answer Yes or No
1 is the defendant actually making the posts as daTruthSquad ?
2 is the defendant feeding information to whomever is making those posts
3 if the answer to either above is NO then the 1st amendment is being violated.
4 if the answer to # 1 or # 2 above is yes, then the defendant should be prosecuted for Perjury.
What is the blogger giving up exactly? When you jump into the world of controversies like this lawsuit business, one must understand the need for transpariency in the actions of the defendant.
The blogger, has given up his anonymity by posting. I don’t think the first amendment guarantees you anonimity. It says you have the right to say what you like about whatever you like and they can not silence you.
It doesn’t seem that the plaintiff is being overly demanding of the blogger.
Liberal definition of free speech;
“Say or do anything you want with bravado and gusto while bravely having no fear of any consequential reactions”
Convervative Definition of free speech;
“Say or do anything you want as long as it does not infringe on the rights or present personal danger to others. Suffer the consequences and reactions to your excersize of free speech.”
Unless you can demonstrate that the defendant is guilty of either of those two items, anything you say is BS or sophistry.
Assuming that a crime has been committed is soo much a liberal mantra.
Anonymity is often necessary in order to guarantee First Amendment rights. It is a long-held tradition with a history of uncovering government wrongdoing and advancing public discourse. Hamilton, Madison and Jay used it to write the Federalist Papers.
That's not to say that anonymity is absolute, but the government must have a legitimate, overriding need to unmask the anonymous author. Such need does not exist here. The best they can hope for is that the Judge is allowed to know in secrecy and stops the matter if the blogger isn't the defendant. But that's not what the city wants.