GOP Maryland councilman threatens to sue newspaper just for publishing his name

[LiberalEsto]

By David Edwards
06 Jan 2015 at 11:36 ET
RawStory

"A county councilman in Maryland recently threatened a local newspaper with legal action if it dared to even mention his name without prior permission.

In a Facebook post on Saturday, Frederick County Councilman Kirby Delauter blasted Frederick News-Post reporter Bethany Rodgers for using his name in an article in which Republican council members were complaining that Democratic County Executive Jan Gardner would not give them enough parking spaces.

“So let me be clear…………do not contact me and do not use my name or reference me in an unauthorized form in the future,” Delauter wrote.

Rogers replied to his post by pointing out that there was “no requirement to get a person’s authorization in order to mention them in the paper, particularly if that person is an elected official.” "

More:
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2015/01/gop-maryland-councilman-threatens-to-sue-newspaper-just-for-publishing-his-name/

Is it fascism yet?

[elleng]

1. Sorry jerk, you lose;

you've chosen to be a County Councilman, you and your name are 'public property.' Rogers is right.

[LiberalEsto]

2. The rest of the article says at least one of his rethug council colleagues agrees with him

about suing the News-Post.

A little touchy, aren't they?

[elleng]

3. Yes they are, LibEst.

Too bad its Frederick County, but maybe they can learn a thing or two from MoCo Dems!!!

[mahatmakanejeeves]

4. This post shamelessly uses Frederick Co. Council Member Kirby Delauter’s name without authorization

I'll do what I can to add to his annoyance. Expect legal ramifications.

I'm glad I checked the Maryland Forum. I came -->this close<-- to posting this in GD.

Let's go to the original article:

Shreve raises staffing, parking concerns

Here is this morning's follow-up article:

Delauter to The News-Post: Don't use my name without permission

And now, just to make sure this fool gets national recognition, this is from the Washington Post:

This post shamelessly uses Frederick County (Md.) Council Member Kirby Delauter’s name without authorization

The Volokh Conspiracy
By Eugene Volokh January 5 at 8:08 PM @volokhc

Kirby Delauter, a Frederick County (Maryland) Council Member threatens a local journalist (Bethany Rodgers) for … using his name without permission in a newspaper article. No, really:



Uh, Council Member: In our country, newspapers are actually allowed to write about elected officials (and others) without their permission. It’s an avantgarde experiment, to be sure, but we’ve had some success with it.

Thanks to Walter Olson for the pointer.

[Enrique]

5. thou shalt not use Kirby Delauter's name in vain