By Bill Torpy
Oct. 10, 2014
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Tom Owens is a candidate for the DeKalb County Commission seat vacated by Elaine Boyer, who couldn’t tell the difference between the taxpayers’ money and her own. Owens has a colorful history that includes an arrest for stalking.
George Chidi is a blogger for the website “Peach Pundit” and somewhat of an excitable boy himself. He recently wrote a tough piece about Owens. A very, very tough piece.
Now, Owens has gotten a judge to slap some metaphorical handcuffs on Chidi, in the form of a protective order warning him not to go near Owens. Which sort of gets in the way of covering the upcoming election. It would be funny, except for that little thing called the First Amendment.
[The rest of the on-line article, which I read in the print version, is behind a pay wall. I am typing in some info from the print article.]
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I went to speak with Chidi this week about this weirdness.•••••
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About that time, there was a knock on Chidi's door. It was Dekalb sheriff's deputies serving a notice that Owens wanted him held in contempt for violating the restraining order. Owen's new salvo was signed by Judge Richard Foxworth. The document said Chidi violated his TPO by "contacting third parties social media."
It turns out that two days earlier, after the TPO was issued, Chidi put a posting online about how absurd it was for a judge to issue a restraining order on behalf of a candidate for public office to keep a reporter away. "Journalism is not a crime" was the headline.
[this situation got national attention]
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/10/08/reporter-stalking-order-georgia_n_5954286.html
Sam Levine
Oct. 8, 2014
Georgia Reporter Served With Stay-Away Order After Writing Critical Profile Of Candidate
A Georgia reporter was served Monday with a temporary protective order barring him from "stalking" a GOP candidate after he wrote a lengthy and unflattering profile of the man.
George Chidi wrote an article on the site Peach Pundit about Thomas Mitchell Owens, a Republican candidate in a special election for the DeKalb County Board of Commissioners. Chidi detailed Owens’ legal troubles, reporting that three different people had obtained restraining orders against Owens in the last eight years.
Chidi spoke with Owens' former fiancée, who claimed that he had financially abandoned her and their child. The story also described an instance in which the head of a Christian charity filed a police report against Owens for allegedly coming to her thrift shop, spitting on her door and saying that she had “insufficient hate” toward African Muslims.
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The article was posted at 9 a.m. on Monday, and that afternoon Chidi wrote that he was served with the temporary protective order, which prohibits him from "stalking, harassing and/or intimidating" Owens, having any contact with Owens or coming within 100 yards of him. The order was signed by DeKalb County Superior Court Judge Nora Polk. A hearing on the order was scheduled for Oct. 22, just two weeks before the election.
On Wednesday, Chidi told HuffPost that he had also been served with a notice that he had violated the order by "contacting third parties via social media."
Chidi said that he's worried his case could set a dangerous precedent for journalists who write unfavorably about politicians.
“Imagine a politician who can shut off a journalist covering him in the month before an election when everybody is paying attention to politics,” he told HuffPost. “It is chilling. It makes it much more fraught to report on issues of public importance, particularly around politics.”
“It’s dangerous to the public to have a court tell a journalist to stay away from public figures and political candidates," Chidi added.
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