An Arkansas Mom Obtained Public Records About a New Data Center. Then She Got Sued.

An Arkansas woman, Jessica Kivell, obtained public records related to a Google data center project in West Memphis. The records revealed that Google would only cover one-third of the cost of a new solar plant, contradicting its claims that ratepayers would not bear the expense. Kivell shared the documents with the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, which published the information.

The utility company, Entergy Arkansas, which was to build the solar facility, sued Kivell, the newspaper, its reporter, and the Arkansas Times for releasing the records. Entergy claimed the documents contained trade secrets, sought to restrain discussion of the records, and demanded the newspaper remove the published information.

However, several Supreme Court cases indicate that such prior restraints are unconstitutional when the government inadvertently discloses information. U.S. District Court Judge Lee Rudofsky denied Entergy's request for an emergency gag order and the defendants ultimately dropped the case. Despite this, the defendants forced the defendants to incur legal costs without the ability to recover them due to the lack of a federal anti-SLAPP statute.

In a separate case from California, journalist Jack Poulson published a story about a domestic violence arrest involving Maury Blackman, CEO of a surveillance tech company with government contracts. Poulson reported on a police report that Blackman claimed should not have been released. Blackman sued Poulson, Substack, and others, attempting to suppress the articles and police report from being publicly accessible.

However, a judge dismissed Blackman's lawsuit, which was affirmed by an appeals court. This ruling, citing the Florida Star case, also awarded attorneys' fees to the defendants under California's anti-SLAPP law, leaving Blackman responsible for the defendants' legal fees.