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Sheriff's Web critics stay unnamed

A judge squelches Sheriff's Office subpoenas seeking to identify who posted criticisms of its handling of the Sabrina Aisenberg missing-baby case.

By JENNIFER LIBERTO
Published August 27, 2005

TAMPA - A Hillsborough circuit judge Friday blocked the Sheriff's Office from forcing a Web site message board to reveal identities of people making postings, saying the First Amendment trumped the sheriff's right to gather information for a lawsuit.

The case centered on subpoenas the Sheriff's Office issued earlier this month to the Web site, LeoAffairs.com, seeking the identities of people who posted comments on a Sheriff's Office message board that criticized the agency's handling of the Aisenberg missing-baby case.

The office said it wanted to depose those who wrote about the Aisenberg case to see if they have any information about it. The parents of missing Sabrina Aisenberg have sued the Sheriff's Office, alleging it violated their civil rights during an investigation that focused on them as suspects.

The Web site's attorneys said the Sheriff's Office issued the subpoenas to silence criticism.

Judge William Levens agreed Friday that anonymous posters to the Web site, geared toward current and retired law enforcement, have a First Amendment right stronger than the sheriff's right to discover information to defend itself in a civil case levied by the Aisenbergs.

"No one has any idea whether (the Web site posters) have any knowledge about it or don't have any knowledge about it, or if it's a figment of someone's imagination," Levens said.

The Sheriff's Office plans to appeal Levens' order, said sheriff's spokesman J.D. Callaway.

In a separate case involving the same Web site, the Sheriff's Office plans to issue subpoenas seeking identities of some of the same posters who have been generally critical of the office.

However in that case, the Sheriff's Office wants to prevent the site from posting comments that violate the agency's code of conduct. It accuses some posters of using racist language and insulting homosexuals. It also say posters have talked openly about pending criminal investigations.

Judge Marva Crensaw recently ruled that the sheriff could subpoena names from the site, but that it would be unlawful prior restraint to prevent postings in advance.

LeoAffairs.com has about 100 boards for law enforcement agencies in 40 states, including boards for officers of the Pinellas and Pasco sheriff's offices and the St. Petersburg, Tampa and Pinellas Park police departments.

Contributors discuss everything from department policies and promotions to shift changes and charity events.

In court Friday, sheriff's attorneys introduced a page-long message from an anonymous poster who wrote about Steven and Marlene Aisenberg's lawsuit. The Aisenbergs had been charged in the case of their missing daughter, but federal prosecutors eventually dropped the charges.

The poster, who used the pseudonym "She Devil," wrote that the Sheriff's Office "will be writing a check and a big one" in the civil case.

"The shame of it is we will never know the real truth, because of our screwups," the message said.

Sheriff's Office attorney Chris Sabella argued that the poster should be identified, because he or she could have information useful to the office's defense.

"It is an opinion, and it is our position that we have the right to seek what is the basis of that opinion," Sabella argued in court Friday.

Jennifer Liberto can be reached at 226-3403 or liberto@sptimes.com

[Last modified August 27, 2005, 01:13:13]