Larry Godwin v. MPD Enforcer

I just got back in town, and see that our Police Director has sued AOL to find out the identity of the bloggers at MPD Enforcer.

Up to this point, I had never heard of the blog, though it seems to get some pretty heavy traffic, particularly from Law Enforcement. I just went back and read several months of posts, and I don’t see ANYTHING that would justify such an action. As far as I can tell, MPD Enforcer is just a blog by a single, or group of current or former cops who vehemently disagree with the direction the MPD is on. So Larry, what’s the rub?

Squashing dissention is just going to lead to more and louder dissention. Whoever is running this blog has a right to say what they want to, even if some feel it’s unfair. That’s their perspective, so be it. You can either ignore it or act on it, but as a public official, you should be ready for such public disagreement. If you can’t handle it, get out of the business.

To my way of thinking, this is a horrible waste of MPD resources, and court time. Further, the precedent that could be set would be damaging for whistleblowers and the 1st amendment.

If Godwin has a legitimate legal argument, he should present it now, if he’s just on a witch-hunt, I think the City Council may have a problem with this. In any case, the identity of the operators should be allowed to remain anonymous until there’s some legitimate reason to pursue them, or they decide to go public. Make your case in public Larry, or learn to take your lumps like the rest of us.

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