Hersh lawsuit:Fishing expedition subpoeanas are illegal

ACLU

ACLU-PA Says Attorney General's Office Misused Grand Jury Subpoena Power and Disregarded First Amendment In Case Involving Anonymous Twitter Critics

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 21, 2010

The following statement can be attributed to Witold Walczak, legal director for the American Civil Liberties Union of Pennsylvania.

While we are pleased that the Pennsylvania Attorney General's Office has withdrawn the subpoena to Twitter for identity information on our clients, Twitter account holders bfbarbie and CasablancaPA, the ACLU maintains grave concerns about the AG's handling of this affair.

The AG's Office has now confirmed that the information requested by the grand jury subpoena was to be used in connection with today's sentencing of "Bonusgate" defendant Brett Cott.  Two troubling conclusions flow from this admission. [...]