Judge allows anonymity in suit over Pa. religious monument

[rug]

Plaintiffs may proceed anonymously in their suit against a Western Pennsylvania school district and its 10 Commandments monument

December 24, 2012 12:04 am
By Saranac Hale Spencer / The Legal Intelligencer

Three plaintiffs will be allowed to proceed anonymously in their suit against a Western Pennsylvania school district that maintains a monument to the Ten Commandments in front of a public high school, a federal judge ruled.

The New Kensington-Arnold School District didn't oppose the use of pseudonyms in the case, but it did move to strike from the record evidence that the plaintiffs had submitted to the court in support of their motion for anonymity, including screen shots from Facebook pages and emails to the plaintiffs' lawyers containing threats to those bringing the suit.

Two of the anonymous plaintiffs are students at Valley High School.

In his ruling, U.S. District Judge Terrence McVerry of the Western District of Pennsylvania said, "The plaintiffs presently designated as 'Doe' may continue to proceed anonymously with the use of pseudonyms."

http://www.post-gazette.com/stories/business/legal/judge-allows-anonymity-in-suit-over-pa-religious-monument-667616/

[2ndAmForComputers]

1. Rec because this is good news.

Don't you agree?

[rug]

3. For the minors, yes.

Beyond that it's hard to say without seing the facebook posts.

Anonymous litigation is generally a bad thing.

[JoeyT]

2. Normally I'm opposed to anonymity,

because of a person's right to face their accuser in court, I'm fine with it in situations like this.

The best reason is because they're not suing a person, they're suing a school district. A close second is because their opponents are fighting to strip them of their anonymity because they know if they can do that the harassment and death threats will do their work for them.