Pennsylvania AG Withdraws Subpoena for IDs of Two Twitter Critics
Pennsylvania Attorney General Tom Corbett has withdrawn a subpoena that sought the identities of two Twitter users who criticized his “Bonusgate” investigation of legislative corruption.
Corbett, a candidate for governor, withdrew the subpoenas on Friday, just days after they became public in stories by Threat Level, Tech Crunch, PennLive.com and the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
Prosecutors said they didn’t need the information after one of the “Bonusgate” defendants, former Democratic legislative aide Brett Cott, was sentenced on Friday to 21 to 60 months in prison, according to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and the Philadelphia Inquirer. Prosecutors believed Cott was the person writing at @CasablancaPA, and they said his online attacks and denial of responsibility were an aggravating factor that should be taken into account at his sentencing for using state resources in political campaigns.
Critics had suggested the subpoenas were an attempt to silence criticism of the Bonusgate prosecution by the authors of @CasablancaPA and the other targeted Twitter account, @bfbarbie. Sensing a First Amendment threat, the American Civil Liberties Union of Pennsylvania had stepped in to represent CasablancaPA and its author, who called himself Signor Ferrari after a Casablanca character.
Threat Level and Tech Crunch published this tweet from Signor Ferrari: “Is it wrong to mix campaign work with taxpayer business? Apparently not when Tom Corbett does it.”
Witold Walczak, legal director of the ACLU of Pennsylvania, told the Inquirer that his group is pleased that the subpoenas have been withdrawn, but it still has “grave concerns about the AG’s handling of this affair.”
Walczak also commented to ABC27 News. The lesson, he said, is that “criticizing one’s government officials is a valued constitutional right [and] the right can be pursued anonymously.”
Prior coverage:
ABAJournal.com: “Pennsylvania AG Issues Subpoena for IDs of Two Twitter Critics”
