How many posts have I posted by now about government over-reach on surveillance and the need to vigorously defend our right to privacy? A lot, right?
And I realize that I am really only pseudoanonymous, but I think I’ve made it perfectly clear to most parties that I do not cheerfully tolerate people invading my privacy or trying to.
So imagine my reaction the other evening when I received an email from Twitter Legal telling me that they had been hit with a grand jury subpoena for details of my @PogoWasRight Twitter account.
To their great credit, Twitter had fought the subpoena for my account details as well as the account details of four other accounts, but now there was apparently nothing more they could do, so they notified me so that I could file a motion to quash the subpoena.
Yes, grand juries have a lot of power. And yes, journalists do not have a real shield law and even journalists can be subpoenaed.
Right now, I’m going to withhold details of what the subpoena is about, although I know. And I know enough to be infuriated that a grand jury would so cavalierly and casually demand my personal information.
As I tweeted the other night:
Grateful to @Twitter for fighting a grand jury subpoena for my info & for notifying me so I can move to quash. Boy, am I pissed right now…
— Dissent Doe (@PogoWasRight) October 20, 2017
Grateful to @Twitter for fighting a grand jury subpoena for my info & for notifying me so I can move to quash. Boy, am I pissed right now…
Once again, this blog and blogger are deeply grateful to the law firm of Covington & Burling. Jason Kriss and Kurt Wimmer have been outstanding in their helpfulness and representation of my concerns and rights.
Hopefully, this matter will get resolved next week, but do expect me to have more to say about it all one way or the other.