Let me guess, proud member of the GOP?

am i missing sthing? does this suit have any legs to stand on?

…WOW! It really looks like Germany 1939, again.
This dude completely ignores the First Amendment to the Contitution – and he wants to be the PA governor?
Also, as to defamation, it is not if the alleged facts are true…

Really, Tom? Really? You demand to know who has the gall to criticize a public figure?
We have always been at war with Oceania.

@Ron – In these regards let’s put party aside. IF a politician did any of that it doesn’t matter… A spade gets called a spade.

Signed a non anonymous equal opportunity watchdog

None, not even a nub. What is this guy thinking?

The only way this holds up is if the tweets are patently untrue. if that's the case, it could be considered libel. Otherwise, anonymous criticism is certainly protected by the Constitution.

@michaelrad. No, I don't believe so. Unless I have been blissfully unaware that I live in a Commonwealth that somehow has the power to overrule the First Amendment of the US Constitution. The subpoena itself is just another example of Tom Corbett abusing his power.

Wow, that's insane. I live in PA, and I'd like to thank Tom Corbett for making my vote for governor an easy one. My vote goes for whoever's running against him.

Tom Corbett is an idiot. (
Oh no I might get a subpoena now.)

Not you. TechCrunch!

What a jackass.

But if the alleged facts aren't true, and it is defamation, are you still going to make wild accusations that this is the second coming Nazi Germany? It's rare to see Godwin's law being invoked any faster.

i dont often comment, but over here in the good ol british isles it sounds like Corbett is what we call a grade A prick

What laws of Penn. are allegedly violated? There is the Constitution of the U.S. and there is also a Penn. constitution. From what I understand the first ten articles of the Bill of Rights list no-no's for the Fed Govt. not the states. In fact state constitutions have endorsed certain religous denominations for moral guidance in their laws.

My honest opinion is that Tom Corbett is a butthead of the first water. He also has sex with goats on fire. For money. Come get me, Tommy boy.

Dan Onorato, won the Democratic primary yesterday, is running against him. But if this one incomplete instance is what is going to base your entire vote on then it'd probably be better that you didn't vote at all.

uh… what? did they repeal the bill of rights? Drill baby drill (into the constitution)?

What a ****. I think we should all make twitter accounts and spam his blog with disapproval for attacking freedom of speech and the internet. Internet and internet anonymity is increasingly being seen as a fundamental human right by this world — one that this guy is trying to attack.

So now we are being attacked on the basis of free speech.

the hell with this guy, we live in america

Uh oh… So, I should expect that the creators of Heroes will be contacting me because I tweeted that if people were disappointed with the show being cancelled that I was surprised they could read?

This is ridiculous. Welcome to the Internet, you tard.

For better or worse (okay, much worse), media-, technology- and constitutional-illiteracy are hardly the unique province of either party.

The gop sure hates us for our freedoms.

that's why you should use my sitehttp://abusethem.com

It gives you the anonymous identity with which you can criticize anyone without having the need to disclose identity even I can't say who abused/criticized someone..as I don't collect any IP Address..from my visitors..

It's a platform for all those who want to vent their anger against someone whom they don't like..:)

It's what we would call him over here, too. I think it really transcends national boundaries

Wow, this is huge. We are headed down a slippery slope if Tom Corbett gets his way.
Unless the twitter person had threatened Tom with harm, I do not think he should be able to know who the anonymous person is. This is ridiculous and a abuse of power in my opinion.
I am going to write to the justice department a complaint letter about what I think is an abuse of power.

You write like a lawyer… always taking both sides. Also, you seem to defend the indefensible eg slimy politicians [naturally, a requirement for the job.]
"Wild accusations?" You must be one of the supporters of the Arlen Specter-John Kerry effort to repeal the Firs Amendment.
BTW, "Godwin's law" started as a joke and it is still a joke. References and comparison to Nazis and dictatorial regimes are perfectly valid, in any context – unless you are against freedom of speech.

State constitution convo above.. It goes like this: City laws are trumped by county laws; county laws are trumped by state laws; state laws are trumped by federal laws; federal laws are trumped by treaties…

Just remember the power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely… Politicians are scum by definition.

And… I could (presumably) post something to Twitter as someone I’m not… On the surface that appears not to be anonymous… Yet isn’t me. Not sure why a politician of any stripe needs my address, ip address, etc except to badger me.

Hopefully no one subpoena me :) I’m just a card game with attitude:)

GOP = fat white guys who can't take a punch. Greatest generation my ass. Look at the mess they left us with!!

Just bought the domain SubpoenaMeTomCorbett.com – will start fleshing it out later but if anyone wants to join in the fun let me know.

No, we live in Amerika, where politicians wantonly abuse their authority and get away with it as long as they shovel enough taxpayer funded trinkets and baubles to the masses that don't pay taxes yet vote. Rep or Dem, doesn't matter- they're all "abusers", that's why they got into politics. And that's why "the price of liberty is eternal vigilance"- excretory orifices like this guy have to go.

I wholeheartedly disagree:http://blogs.citypages.com/blotter/2010/04/michel...

"Oh, X is a murderer, but if you're going to base your entire vote blah blah blah"

Some issues are important, Conor. Sometimes all it takes is just one.

Wanting to go on a witch hunt against people anonymously criticizing a *public figure* in MORE than enough grounds to get the power-lusting scumbag out of office.

as he is a public person, if they are baseless, it is Libel not just defamation. Just sayin

so perhaps the anonymous twitter abuse is coming from Dan Onorato, his rival. Perhaps their completely untrue. You're going to vote against a man who demands to meet his (likely) libelous accusers?

let's see how you feel when people start accusing you of crimes and other things that begin to affect your career and livelihood. you have the RIGHT to defend your name and meet your accuser.

Another out of control ego.

HOW DARE YOU PEOPLE CRITICIZE THE ALMIGHTY TOM CORBETT

there is a reason people are allowed to send in anonymous, comments even by mail. only difference is that by mail, its sent in by a 3rd party, were as the internet gets rid of that third party… wtf

I couldn't have said it better Walt other than to say to go here to visit Dan Onorato's website:http://www.voteonorato.com/?no_splash=1 He's the guy running against Corbett and is the person you'll be voting for instead of Corbett.

The Internet: breaking down barriers and bringing us all closer together. It's a beautiful thing.

But professing to protect the constitution and then going both after the 1st and 4th ammendment in one action seems to be the kingdom of the GOP

Also a few month back Michael started a whole series of separating ourselves from the morons that seem to be governing S. Carolina (the AG, then you add the governor and the esteems congress man Wilson). Maybe it's time for PA?

Awesome! Let the meme begin.

Hey Tom, subpoena this: ..|.,

I bet if the Twitter rep went to jail and refused to testify it would be one of the best advertisements that any tech company has ever pulled off.

One has 20 followers, the other 70. Way to score an own goal and draw attention to something no one cares about :)

Seems like this sort of thing will just draw MORE attention to his alleged wrong-doings.

Result a) Some blogger gets a fine. Who cares.
Result b) Someone does some further investigation, finds out the guy IS a fraudster, and he goes down for good.

I don't think it's worth the gamble on his part.

Poor little Tom Corbett

He can say and do anything he wants, and you better not upset the little baby.

Internet to Mr. Corbett sit and spin, I hope Twitter tells ya the same.

Imagine what the Internet would be like if every opinion required state approval?
I really don't want to learn to speak Chinese today.

Once again, Tom Corbett makes me sad to say that I live in Pa. Hope many remember how much of our money he is spending on these ridiculous law suits.

I'm sorry, but did you just equate accusing someone of libel with murder?

Corbett, who has prosecuted and convicted dozens of corrupt Democrats and Republicans, including a former House party leader, over PA's "Bounsgate" deserves a discerning voter to look to at least one other criteria before completely deciding to vote for Onorato. And if one has the time between now and November, it'd be nice if you could actually look at Onorato as well, unless, of course, you're going to spend that time being pseudodramatic.

Actually, because he is a public person it is neither libel nor defamation. The threshold for a successful libel or defamation case is much much higher when a public figure is involved. Plus libel is a civil action, this is a grand jury subpoena – the grand jury exclusively investigated criminal proceedings.

So the AG is accusing the person operating this account of committing a crime not mere libel.

Except that the subpoena is for a criminal investigation, and Pennsylvania doesn't have a criminal libel statute. If he was going after these tweeters for libel, he'd file a civil libel subpoena, not a criminal one.

So he is suing because someone criticized him? Even a first year law student would be able to beat him in court. Imagine if a national politician sued everyone who badmouthed them, George W. Bush alone would have filed hundreds of thousands of lawsuits. Twitter will not (and legally does not have to) give him the info, and any judge would throw out any charges and lawsuit this idiot would try to file.

That's not true at all. Since 1940 the Bill of Rights has applied to the states. This is because the 14th amendment provides for equal protection for all persons and the court has found that to mean that certain substantive protections (e.g. free speech, due process, security over one's person from search, etc.) transcend state boundaries.

That's why you can challenge a state law in front of the U.S. Supreme Court even if that state's Supreme Court has rejected your petition.

Your not completely correct. Not all of the Amendments to the Constitution apply to states. The SC has a number of times stated one or another does not apply. However, the First Amendment is NOT one of them. I do not see how he can win this unless he can prove libel. But if he can, then case law is on his side. Look at what happened in NY with the blogger who was posting libel statements about some model. The courts ordered that the blogging service release all her personal data.

There is no right to post libel statements anonymously. Technically there is no right to Internet anonymity.

That said, I think this AG is way out of line (unless its libel). Makes me sad. Honestly even if it is Libel, I do not think he should be doing this.

Of course "references and comparison to Nazis and dictatorial regimes are perfectly valid." It's not like there's a law against referencing Nazis. And there's no law preventing us from assuming that someone who DOES compare Nazi Germany to an attorney general's subpoena is probably a little unhinged.

If that were true he could sue Onorato and as part of that civil suit he could subpoena certain records to arrive at a finding of fact. Instead, it appears he is using the CRIMINAL fact finding process.

I referenced Godwin's Law to point out that what you're doing is an example of hyperbole and a product of the "slippery slope" logical fallacy that you're obviously practicing here. If I was a lawyer I'd point out that there isn't a mat large enough for the conclusions that you're jumping to in every single sentence. However since I'm not a lawyer, but just a student of common sense, I realize that arguing with you any further is a pointless waste of my time.

The Federalist Papers were an earlier version of this form of anonymous discussion.
In that particular case, it was regarding the proposed structure of the Constitution and it's amendments.
The people responsible were later identified.
Ben Franklin was also a proponent of the use of a pseudonym.
See here:http://www.pbs.org/benfranklin/l3_wit_name.html

Really? Is that why President Obama refuses to take any questions from Fox News?

>From what I understand the first ten articles of the Bill of Rights list no-no's for the Fed Govt. not the states.

Your understanding is flawed.

In fact state constitutions have endorsed certain religous denominations for moral guidance in their laws.

The concept of "separation of church and state" does not exist anywhere in the Constitution. As such, what's the point of this statement?

This is amazing and a simple matter of a citizen right to speak their mind. No threats or the like seem to have been made. The politician just launched a great negative publicity campaign for himself for trying to shut-up two critics. As well this is a great representation of the GOP – wonder if they will embrace or reject corbett after this.

Personally I hope this completely backfires on him and he is forced to withdraw due to lack of support because of his actions. It is a prime example of an amazing abuse of power by a politician. As well though, I am completely surprised that the judge even signed the subpoena given the lack of substance.

Wonder if Tom Corbett will refile the subpoena to include all the re-tweeters. Lets all re-tweet the tweets.

Let us show them real contempt by sending a paid homeless guy in a blue tweety bird suit to serve the time.

While I don't generally like anonymous postings on the web I'm not in favor of the legal system revealing identities without cause. There is no specific allegation of wrong doing made. What law was potentially violated? Is there a reasonable chance that a case could be brought? Judges should only compel an identity to be revealed if there is a reasonable case of bringing and wining a specific case. If this is some defamation case, we should remember that defamation is a very hard case to win. In most states it require the plaintiff to show willful falsehoods and to further prove that damage has been the result. It is not likely that the examples given in this article could be characterized as willful falsehood. And the fact that the case made it here has caused more damage than the posts ever wood have on their own. The legal system should prevent intimidation and fishing expeditions, not facilitate them.

Read the 14th amendment to discover that the rights protected by the Constitution DO apply to the states.

Hate to do it Paul, but I have to invoke Godwin's Law – you brought up Nazi Germany, so you lose two Internets (even though you do have a point).

Not a Corbett supporter, but it is ODD how this story broke the day AFTER election day even though the subpoena is dated May 6th.

Except –
Libel is a civil matter – not something a state AG's office should be pursuing. The only possible way the State's chief law enforcement attorney has any shred of reason to get involved would be a criminal defamation matter… but considering these are clearly campaign-related posts – he'd get laughed out of court if he went that route.
Tom Corbett, private citizen, is entitled to file all the frivolous SLAPP suits he wants (PA does have some anti-SLAPP statutes, but not sure how strong they are).
Tom Corbett, acting as AG — this is despicable… Forget not voting for the bastard, he ought to resign his current office and spend some time reading about this law thing he is supposed serving.

David: count me in! I want to join the fun. That's a great idea. When does it go live and how can we help?

But that's the thing –

This isn't necessarily a defamation suit. It's a subpoena from the state AG. It would be one thing if Tom Corbett, as a private citizen, filed a tort and via that filing, tried to get Twitter to reveal the users.

That's not what is happening here. This is Corbett abusing his office to go after critics – infinitely worse, in my opinion.

The former could laughed off – or at least derided as a frivolous suit. By using the power of PA's law enforcement apparatus, what Corbett is doing here is infinitely worse.

Forget not voting for him — PA citizens would be quite right if they demanded he resign after a pulling a stunt like this.

First Muhammad can't be drawn, this guy can't be talked about badly…what is this country coming to? :/

@Gareth Simpson has it! only 96 people total are following these two people, and I'd venture to say that most aren't following because of their political views. Way to go Tom…now instead of 96 people, you have half of twitter-land interested in the allegations. Didn't your mama teach you about the 'sticks and stones'??

Ben: that's a good idea. I re-tweeted some of the stories. This is incredible. The twitter and blogger community should really raise hell about this. We should email PA media sites and do everything else possible. This is outrageous. Let's protect our rights!

here is the blog site Corbett is so worried about:http://casablancapa.blogspot.com/

It looks like typical political criticism of an elected politician. This is scary crazy.

CasablancaPA got the subpoena from Twitter last night.

Defamation cases for statements made in the political arena are virtually impossible to win – there is huge latitude given for discussion of political topics in public discourse. As an Attorney General Corbett should be well aware of that fact. Therefore, IMHO he is either incompetent or abusing his power. He should be dismissed from his job in either case. The Judge who signed the order should be removed as well IMHO.

Tom Corbett is a Pinhead

While that may not be ideal (President Obama is by no means perfect) can you show me what constitutional issue does this pose?
Oh BTW when you have one channel continuosly attacking you not about what you do necessarily but all this 'birthing' thing, even whether the oath of office was administered properly and whether he's actually the president, it's not news channel and he does not regard them as such.

What an ass hole.

I just finished reading an article from the EFF headlined "Judge Shields Identity of Online Critic Facing Baseless Lawsuit"

This sounds like the same thing:
"A federal judge in San Francisco has quashed a baseless subpoena aimed at outing an anonymous online critic of Pennsylvania corporation USA Technologies after the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) successfully argued that the First Amendment shields the identity of anonymous speakers who engage in lawful speech."
http://www.eff.org/press/archives/2010/05/18

If he uses the state AG to pursue him?

You're damn right.

Libel is a civil matter. If Corbett – as a private citizen – wants to pursue a SLAPP suit or a fishing expedition, that's one thing.

He's using the power of the highest law enforcement office in the state to pursue a nakedly partisan issue.

It's completely inappropriate for the State's Attorney to be pursuing this.

One doesn't need to be an attorney to understand that.

Or let me put it this way — if I call you an idiot, what is the proper course of action? A reasonable person might say ignore it or refute it. An overly litigious person might say it's cause for a libel tort. BUT – does anyone think the police should be trying to find out who I am for calling you an idiot?

I'm a GOP'er and I think this is brutal. What an ass hat. Corbett = idiot

boo hoo hoo…corbett got some sand in his eyes '-(

Bingo.

That's exactly right.

Corbett isn't filing a civil suit on his own behalf – whatever the merits. He's using the power of the state to go after an opponent. That's wrong.

Fanned. As a long-time Internet denizen, I congratulate you. 1st time ever I sprayed coffee over my keyboard.

Nice choice PA Republicans. That's why I'm an Independent. You should have chosen Sam Rohrer when you had the chance.

At first blush a PA Investigating Grand Jury Subpoena for Twitter account information, two accounts that collectively have, at last count, less than 125 followers, seems foolhardy on many levels. Assuming, of course, this is a nefarious attack on First Amendment rights to critique public official(s), AG Corbett specifically, character and suitability to office. Chilling opposition rhetoric going toward November elections would be beneficial to the candidate. However, chilling “free speech” should have disastrous election results for Corbett.

There are possible legitimate motivations, albeit remote IMO: The Grand Jury is investigating, in some manner, the pending “Bonus Gate” (#bonusgate) prosecutions of some PA Lawmakers and their staffs. Or, not-yet-public information about pending prosecution or investigations is appearing in Tweets or blogs.

Nevertheless, if this is an attempt to silence opponents; an appropriate November headline “Corbett’s Campaign – Hoisted with its own petard”

Was just looking to see if anybody had posted this link yet. Not too worried about Tom's subpoena.

Anyone participating in tomorrow's (May 20th) Draw Muhammad Day?

Count me in as a subscriber!

I find it hard to believe that a judge would even allow subpoenaes to be issued in this case. What even happened to our rights as citizens of this country. I think the voters of the state of PA should not vote for this JERK!

Oh Mister Corbett, Where are you when people are doing pranks about these news anchors who got fired with their jobs just because of someone else's demise?

and its now late… if you'll do something to protect your privacy, make sure its for everyone and not for yourself only.

I didn't know this fool's name before; now I do. Good going, Tom Corbett.

I am always very careful to state that my statements are opinion only.

Pennsylvania Office of Attorney General
16th Floor, Strawberry Square
Harrisburg, PA 17120

Phone:
717-787-3391

Fax:
717-787-8242

Press Office:
717-787-5211

The judge who signed this literally sits in Corbett's office and signs whatever he and his agents tell him to sign…

Oh why not Obama Holder & Cass Susstein want to do this on broader level..Blame the GOP instead of Both Parties..There seems to be rotten corpses in both..OMG this country is in huge trouble. We need to ge rid of everyone wih any long term service..Fresh Blood of people in any party who hasn't been corrupted yet.. Kagan on supreme court believes 1st & 2nd amendment should be adjusted also..WTF are these idiots thinking..Wake up America..both parties have too much influence and both are undermining this country at our expense..

I can't wait for the EEF to countersue the **** out of this idiot.

NYT v. Sullivan – public figure anyone?

I'd guess that he has the right to know his accuser if he plans on filing a defamation case. I hate Philly fans, though, so I'm siding with Twitter on this one! ;-)

I live in PA. He is biggest Jack Ass. Just another lock in step conservative republican.

How does Pennsylvania Law have any jurisdiction in California ?

Did a single one of you try to figure out why? Tom Corbett is the Attorney General. It appears that he is investigating the posts, not trying to stifle criticism. It is quite possible that the poster has released information that is not privy to the public. It is likely that this has nothing to do with Tom Corbett campaign for Governor. If the person posting is releasing information that the court has ordered "gagged", then they are breaking the law. The fact that nearly all the comments here jumps to the easiest conclusion is worrisome. You people really need to take a breath and think a little.

And you do not have the right to "anonymous speech". You can't just add words to the Constitution to fit your personal position.

hey bman. You do realize that Tom Corbett is investigating political people…people who are under investigation…people who know things that are suppose to be kept quiet by a court order while that investigation moves forward. And you should know that breaking that court order is against the law? You do realize that you jumped to a the grammar school conclusion? You do realize that you know nothing about the law? You do realize that calling someone a "tard" when you are obviously ill informed is quite ironic?

Didn't there used to be a TV show "Tom Corbett, Space Cadet"? Back in dinosaur days? It seems he is still a "space" cadet!

I agree it sounds like there is little to no legal merit here.

What I'm curious about is Twitter's response. There doesn't need to be legal merit for Twitter to give in and reveal the poster's identity.

I hope they do not, but if they did it would be a significant bad precendent.

Professional Politician no party . Guilty as charged. Raper of the public trust and a lawyer on top of that. Blank him

Right. That's why Obama sat through a combative interview with Bret Baier. Because he doesn't take questions from FOX.

Fail.

Hi y’all. We just had this same type of problem here in the New Orleans area ( Jefferson Parish). To read how we handled this scumbag Nazi go to slabbed.wordpress.com. He withdrew his lawsuit yesterday.

You know why he's doing this? Because there's at least 40% of the electorate that will vote for him anyway come November ("because the…ohnoes….Democratic….alternative is SO MUCH WORSE!!!")

So let me get this straight: A political figure may have committed a wrongdoing. An anonymous person criticizes the political figure for what has been done. The political figure is embarrassed and demands to know the identity. For what reason? Send holiday cards? Retaliate?

I don't know about you folks but this sounds the behavior of a GUILTY party. If the allegations were false then you'd think he would acknowledge, make light of it, and not draw so much attention. In other words, react with a "yeah, whatever."

Actually, b/c it's a grand jury subpoena, he's issued the subpoena with the purported interest in gathering evidence against the "target" of the grand jury. But, make no mistake, it's a public, partisan, witchhunt by a textbook narcissist. His handlers should tell him in a way that won't make him "go off", enough is enough.

Maybe I'm off base here, but I thought that only threats of physical violence were prohibited on twitter.

I don't tweet but maybe Tom Corbett can come and get me for this:
Tom Corbett is a crooked scumbag who would steal from his own mother if he thought it would benefit him politically. That makes him a political WHORE!.
Don't like the comment, Tom? Jackson Euler, Providence, RI, 02906. Send me a subpoena, why don't you, you sniveling, conniving, piece of …. garbage!

more republican waste in government, sounding very much like the Palin mode of governance.Attack the attackers using taxpayer monies for a personal agenda

I think that the fact we're having this discussion of some attorney general usurping the first amendment only adds to the surreal aspect of the corrupt Orwellian times we are living in.

Geez, first Arlan, now this…….the sky is falling in PA!

1st Admendment/Freedom of Speech! Corbet violates the Constitution!–>at taxpayer's expense for personal vendetta!
An abuse of power if ever there was one. Will Corbett now subpoena techcrunch.com for OUR info because most here CRITICIZE what he is attempting to do?

You all seem soooo smart… and just where in the constitution does it say a citizen has the right to Anonymous speech?

No doubt. Small government my a…

I think the subpoena is less about actually compelling testimony than it is about chilling criticism. Corbett doesn't have to win to make his point. If EFF involved to defend Twitter & Ferrari?

David! You're the man. I am so in.

With all due respect, your post seems naive.

With respect to anonymous speech, I copy below a summary on the topic from Wikipedia. In short, the Supreme Court has held that anonymous speech is protected under the constitution.

In Talley v. California, 362 U.S. 60 (1960), the Court struck down a Los Angeles city ordinance that made it a crime to distribute anonymous pamphlets. In McIntyre v. Ohio Elections Commission, 514 U.S. 334 (1995), the Court struck down an Ohio statute that made it a crime to distribute anonymous campaign literature. However, in Meese v. Keene,, 481 U.S. 465 (1987), the Court upheld the Foreign Agents Registration Act of 1938, under which several Canadian films were defined as "political propaganda," requiring their sponsors to be identified.

I just posted this comment over at said casablanca blog. Believe it or not the comment did not get posted. Oh well, so much for free speech.

Fighting corruption is all well and good but why only focus on one man. Pennsylvania has so many corrupt politicians to share the blame. You lose a little credibility when Tom Corbett is your only target. You seem like a Democrat who only cares about Republican corruption and doesn't care much about the abuses pointing in the other direction. Honestly, this is not a criticism only of you. This happens a lot when folks try to expose corruption, they usually focus on someone not aligned with their philosophies and have at it. Usually there is something to be found. I don't know why, but it seems the most ethically challenged are drawn to a political career. But, again, this can be said for both sides. And as long as you concentrate on just one man your blog seems more like a hatchet job rather than an exposé. No matter my opinion though, your right to free speech is guaranteed by the constitution and that cannot be taken away. Tom Corbett had better look in the mirror and access his life a little more thoroughly.

The irony is that the grand jury should be investigating the Pennsylvania attorney general for abuse of power.

What is even more amazing is that he actually wont the governor nomination. an investigation should be done as to whether this was purposely held until after the election or not. Glad to hear that the ACLU is helping the two tweeters with legal fees. That is the worst part. Does not matter if they did anything wrong but the real intimidation here is the cost to defend themselves. In this period of sue-happy people there should be stiff penalties for individuals, groups, companies and politicians who bring frivolous suits or subpoenas. Would love to see a lawsuit for damages for the two tweeters and twitter. Twitter could actually have legs to stand on that this has hurt their business. They should consider suing Corbett personally for business impact. the problem to though is Corbett is acting on behalf of the state of PA so he can hide behind that as attorney general.

Corbett is a dangerous man and is using his office to ruthlessly pursue political enemies. In these political prosecutions, 272 – or 85 percent – of the 322 counts brought to court by Corbett’s prosecutors have been dismissed or ended in “not guilty” verdicts. Corbett won guilty verdicts in only 15 percent of the counts – and some of those are being appealed. People are afraid to use their real names because Corbett will trump up charges and indict them. Example: Corbett charged Sharon Rodavich, a key campaign field operative of Bill DeWeese, one of the most powerful (and honest) Democrats in the state, with ghost payrolling. Corbett said she did "no legislative work." Sharon has more than 100 witnesses and extensive evidence of her years of work on state issues. Prosecutors refused to accept this evidence or bring it to the Grand Jury. Another example is Democratic Representative Sean Ramaley, who Corbett charged before his race for a state Senate seat. Ramaley dropped out, a Republican got his seat, and Ramaley was exonerated on all counts by a jury. But Corbett got what he wanted: one more Republican seat in a state that's critical for the national presidential race.

Corbett covered up corruption, fraud, and criminal misconduct in his own office, according to his former Senior Deputy Attorney General. Corbett's Financial Enforcement Section, which collects hundreds of millions of dollars for various state agencies, has lost millions of dollars because of no-bid deals that gave preferred collection agencies commissions of up to 40 percent to collect payments for which they did little or no work and allowed them to hold onto the money without paying interest, a federal suit alleges. The suit was filed by Thomas Kimmett, who ran the unit for Corbett and tried unsuccessfully to persuade Corbett to stop the misconduct. Kimmett alleged other special deals. In one case, a taxpayer who owed $913,000 was given a settlement of $20,000 with no paperwork or backup, he alleged. Kimmett’s case against Corbett is expected to go to trial in August.

Corbett is a Bush appointee and the former General Counsel of Waste Management. Need we say any more?

Actually no… There is no automatic "trumping" of laws in the legal structure. Some take precedence over others in certain ways but nothing is automatic based on the level at which they are passed. The federal constitution grants certain powers to the federal government, that which is not granted by the constitution is expressly reserved to the states. And treaties are of equal footing as Federal law, so the last in time rules.

Ridiculous lawsuits that have convicted all but two of the 20-some-odd defendants in the bonusgate scandal… Somehow the conviction rate makes the lawsuits seem less frivolous.

Corbett was a Bush appointee, as in appointed by George HW Bush to serve as a US Attorney. He is now an elected official. So yeah you probably did need to say more.

To clear up the question about protection for anonymity in the first amendment, here is an excerpt from the 1995 Supreme Court ruling in McIntyre v. Ohio Elections Commission: "Protections for anonymous speech are vital to democratic discourse. Allowing dissenters to shield their identities frees them to express critical, minority views . . . Anonymity is a shield from the tyranny of the majority. . . . It thus exemplifies the purpose behind the Bill of Rights, and of the First Amendment in particular: to protect unpopular individuals from retaliation . . . at the hand of an intolerant society."

Further erosion of our "rights" under the Constitution.

For those of you who do not condone violence, I suggest you just sit back and let those who do get to work. We'll call you when we've stormed the castle, lynched the gang, and taken back this country from The First Sphere of Influence.

Pizza, anyone?

Had Corbett ignored the Twitter comments, they would have gone unnoticed. Now that he's shot his mouth off, this will go all over the Net. This man is profoundly stupid and should never be allowed to infest a public office again. The only good thing about this is that he has revealed himself as fool prior to the election.

Actually, dumb ass, he's a democrat.

"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion"

Tom Corbett blows goats. I have proof

Privacy is a sham. These people are just plain dangerous. We are living in Orwell's nightmare.

Andy=1, Simmer=0

June 1st is "Everybody Draw Tom Corbett Day"!

Despite continued claims by the attorney general’s office that accusations, court motions and lawsuits against Corbett are baseless or “bogus,” it remains to be seen whether he can demonstrate to voters that he didn’t abuse his prosecutorial power in the semblance of cleaning up public corruption. Additionally, a federal lawsuit filed against Corbett in 2008 alleges that thousands, perhaps millions, of public dollars were “illegally paid out to vendors.” On March 11, Corbett was deposed in his office for six hours for a lawsuit filed against him and others in the office of the attorney general and Department of Revenue. The whistleblower case alleges that Thomas D. Kimmett, a former attorney with the AG’s office, and his assistant, Sherry E. Bellaman, were terminated because of Kimmett’s call for an independent investigation into the collection practices within the Attorney General’s Financial Enforcement Section.

The case alleges “pervasive wrongdoing” in the collection of accounts receivable amounting to upwards of $300 million to $500 million. It gives details of alleged fraudulent payouts to no-bid vendors and claims there was a “cover-up by Mr. Corbett and the other defendants.” The discovery process in the case is set to end April 12, with a pre-trial conference July 2. Unless the case is dismissed, it will go to trial in August and could prove “very embarrassing” to Corbett, said Charles Kimmett, a D.C.-based lawyer representing his uncle Thomas Kimmett.

Beginning in April 2008, when Corbett was running for re-election, Kimmett — who had already expressed concern internally about the collections practice inside the financial enforcement section — went “outside the chain of command” at the attorney general’s office, Charles Kimmett said. “He had spoken to the U.S. attorney’s office because he was concerned that they were going to pin what was going on on him when the Department of Revenue had backed down from doing anything that would embarrass the AG’s office,” Charles Kimmett said. In November, Corbett signed off on Kimmett’s termination, but two years later the case continues

Typical Republican a$$hole!

The only way this holds up is if the tweets are patently untrue. if that's the case, it could be considered libel. Otherwise, anonymous criticism is certainly protected by the Constitution.