Settlement Reached In Delaware Blogging Case

J.L. Miller at Delaware Online/The News Journal reported June 22, 2006 that, "A settlement has been reached in the Smyrna blogging case, ending a Superior Court lawsuit filed by two town councilmen and a councilman's wife ["Councilman Patrick Cahill and wife Julie, and Councilman Douglas Chervenak"]  who claimed they were defamed by vile comments on an Internet site that were traced to a computer in the home of Mayor Mark Schaeffer."

 

According to Miller, "Schaeffer’s stepdaughter, Cristina Rawley...admitted in court filings that she wrote the comments."

 

For more, see "Cahills, Schaeffers settle Smyrna blogging civil suit." For background on the case, see the University of Minnesota's Silha Center for the Study of Media Ethics and Law's review of  John Doe No. 1 v. Patrick Cahill and Julia Cahill.

 

On October 5, 2005, the Delaware Supreme Court issued an important ruling on anonymity as a result of this case.