Marc J. Randazza | |
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| Born | Marc John Randazza November 26, 1969 |
| Nationality | American and Italian (dual nationality) |
| Alma mater | University of Massachusetts Amherst (Journalism, 1994) Georgetown University Law Center (J.D., 2000) University of Florida (M.A., Mass Communication, 2003) |
| Occupation | First Amendment Attorney |
| Website | http://randazza.com/ |
Marc J. Randazza (born November 26, 1969) is an American First Amendment attorney and a legal commentator on InfoWars.
Randazza was born in Gloucester, Massachusetts. He graduated from Gloucester High School in 1987. Randazza attended the University of Massachusetts Amherst, where he majored in journalism. [1] During his higher education, he wrote a thesis on vote pairing, which was cited by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. [2]
Randazza is licensed to practice law in Massachusetts (2002), Florida (2003), California (2010), Arizona (2010), and Nevada (2012). [3] Randazza's first case was representing a fraternity at Boston University when the brothers of that fraternity were accused of destroying their house and other misconduct. He then began practicing in Florida as a real estate attorney. He quickly returned to the First Amendment and media field, taking on representation of an adult bookstore in Fort Myers, Florida. Soon thereafter, he moved to Orlando, Florida where his practice in First Amendment and media law expanded. He started representing defendants in SLAPP suits, [4] pornography businesses, protestors, in often unpopular constitutional law matters.
In 2004, his University of Florida thesis gained attention as vote pairing became a minor issue during the 2004 election. Randazza was asked to debate the issue on Fox News, and thereafter has been a frequent legal commentator on television and in print. Randazza served as a professor of law at Barry University School of Law, located in Orlando, Florida. [5] [6] where he taught First Amendment law, copyright law, trademark law, and entertainment law.
Randazza has a practice that primarily focuses on the areas of First Amendment litigation, adult entertainment, trademark and copyright litigation, and domain name arbitration disputes. [7] He has represented a number of well-known adult entertainment companies including Kink.com, Bang Bus, and Milf Hunter. He also represents media businesses such as BME and bloggers in SLAPP suits. [8] [9]
On Oct. 1, 2014, Randazza was named by Desert Companion Magazine to its top lawyers in Southern Nevada list. [10]
Randazza has represented controversial figures across the political spectrum. For example, he has represent multiple far-right figures, including Alex Jones, Mike Cernovich, and Chuck Johnson; and neo-Nazi, white supremacist Andrew Anglin. [11] [12] [13]
Randazza defended a participant in the planning of the violent Unite the Right rally who used the pseudonym "Kristall.night" (cf. Kristallnacht). Kristall.night claimed that a federal subpoena against the app Discord following the deadly rally would reveal her identity and expose her to potential harm through doxing. [14]
Randazza defended Anglin in a lawsuit filed by a Jewish realtor in Whitefish, Montana, whose name and address Anglin had published on his neo-Nazi website The Daily Stormer. Randazza argued that Anglin was not responsible for the subsequent harassment and death threats the woman received, as the personal information was protected as free speech. This claim was rejected by U.S. District Court Judge Dana L. Christensen, who noted that Anglin was actively encouraging and participating in the plaintiff's harassment, and that calls to violence against a private individual are not protected speech. [15] [16]
On other portions of the political spectrum, Randazza has represented perennial candidate Vermin Supreme. In 2017, Randazza helped Supreme obtain a permit to bring a pony to protest a Hillary Clinton book signing. [17] In 2018, Randazza represented Supreme in an effort to run for Attorney General of Kansas. [18] Similarly, he has represented the defendant in Beck v. Eiland-Hall , a case before the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) filed by political commentator Glenn Beck, concerning a satire website parodying Beck. [19] [20] The WIPO arbitrator ruled against Beck in the case, and in favor of Randazza's client. [21]
Randazza was set to represent Alex Jones, the founder of InfoWars, in a Connecticut Superior Court case in 2018 after the infamous conspiracy theorist was sued by six families of children killed in the 2012 Sandy Hook school shooting. However, when Randazza filed a pro hac vice application to be added to the Sandy Hook case as an out-of-state lawyer, the judge denied it, citing "serious misconduct," namely the discipline arising from the dispute with Liberty Media Holdings noted below. [22] Randazza's firm, however, continued to represent Jones on and off in the litigation, even though Randazza himself did not enter an appearance. [23]
Randazza also represented InfoWars in a copyright dispute over the use of a Pepe the Frog image. [24]
He also filed suit for InfoWars against the Federal Aviation Administration to permit the use of a drone to gather news footage at the U.S./Mexico border. [25]
Randazza has gained attention for handling high-profile First Amendment cases and for his defense of the adult entertainment field. [26] He represented Chaturbate and XVideos in cybersquatting cases. [27] [28] Years before Matal v. Tam , Randazza wrote the notorious "Fuck" brief to try to obtain a trademark registration for a product using that term. [29]
In 2013, Randazza lobbied the Nevada legislature to update Nevada's Anti-SLAPP statute. [30] [31]
On June 8, 2015, Governor Sandoval signed Nevada Senate bill 444, [32] which in its initial form, stood to largely repeal the Nevada Anti-SLAPP law. [33] The initial form of the law was backed by casino mogul, Steve Wynn. Randazza lobbied to keep the statute in its speech-protective form. [34]
On April 27, 2016, Randazza filed a friend of the court brief in the lawsuit by Paramount Pictures and CBS against Axanar Productions on behalf of the Language Creation Society. The lawsuit concerned a 21-minute fan-made short film, Prelude to Axanar . Paramount Pictures and CBS claimed, among other things, that the film infringed their rights by making use of the Klingon language. [35] [36] [37] Randazza argued that Klingon is a living language, [38] and, as such, is a "state of mind" [39] —a system or process, which cannot be copyrighted, unlike a work. [40] Randazza contended that since Klingon was invented in the 1980s, the language has expanded past its origins, pointing to examples like dictionaries, [41] translations of Shakespeare, the Klingon Language Institute, [42] official government statements, a wedding conducted in Klingon, and translation service available through Bing. [43] To support its point, [40] [44] portions of the brief were written in Klingon, employing the Klingon alphabet. [43] [45]
Response to the brief was generally positive. Attorney and blogger Kevin Underhill called it "a terrific brief", [46] and Attorney Ken White of Popehat wrote that "Marc continues to demonstrate that legal writing can be entertaining, irreverent, and persuasive at the same time." [47] In an article on the blog Mental Floss, Linguist Arika Okrent particularly praised the incorporation of the Klingon language into arguments. [48] Ethan Chiel of Fusion called the brief "a joy to read" and remarked that it was "wonderful to see what is essentially (very serious) fun being had in demonstrating a point in a legal proceeding." [41]
About three weeks after the brief was filed, in an interview on May 20, 2016, J. J. Abrams said that Paramount would drop the lawsuit "within the next few weeks." [49] [50] Abrams further stated that he pushed the studio to stop the lawsuit because "we realized this is not the appropriate way to deal with the fans." [49] [51]
In May 2018 The Satanic Temple (TST) sued Twitter for religious discrimination with pro bono support from Randazza. In August, the Los Angeles chapter of TST disaffiliated in protest, calling Randazza a "Twitter troll and an agent of the alt-right." [52] [53] [54]
In November 2022, Randazza filed suit on behalf of Jordan Conradson, a reporter for The Gateway Pundit (along with the publisher TGP Communications, LLC), because Conradson was denied a press pass; although a preliminary injunction was denied by the lower court, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals granted the injunction because the denial violated the First Amendment—it was not "viewpoint neutral." [55] To the contrary, the Ninth Circuit found "that a predominant reason for the County denying Conradson a press pass was the viewpoint expressed in his writings." [55]
Randazza is also defending The Gateway Pundit in claims brought by two Georgia election workers arising from statements regarding their role in counting the ballots at the State Farm Arena in November 2020. [56]
Randazza has handled a number of "cameras in the courtroom" cases, defending the rights of the news media to attend and televise courtroom proceedings. Most notably, Randazza successfully argued this issue against Alan Dershowitz. In that case, Randazza represented Courtroom View Network in its quest to televise a highly publicized trial in Las Vegas involving the Las Vegas Sands. [57]
In late 2011, Randazza and his firm effectively killed Righthaven, a "copyright troll" company briefly infamous for buying limited rights to copyrighted works for the sole purpose of bringing lawsuits against alleged infringers. [58] [59] On May 9, 2013, the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit affirmed the lower court's decision dismissing the case for lack of standing. [60] Righthaven complained of what it called Randazza's "scorched earth judgment enforcement efforts" in its legal filings. [61]
In 2021, Randazza represented former Boston Ballet dancer Dusty Button and her husband, Mitchell Taylor Button. [62] Court documents include claims of federal sex trafficking and forced labor violations against both Dusty and Taylor Button, as well as separate accusations about Taylor Button for assault, battery, false imprisonment, and sexual exploitation of a minor. [63]
On June 3, 2015, there was an interim arbitration award against Randazza involving Liberty Media Holdings LLC, for whom Randazza had been General Counsel from 2009 to 2012. [64] The dispute arose following Randazza's departure from Liberty and his filing of employment claims against them. Following his arbitration loss, Randazza filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. The arbitration was ultimately vacated in its entirety, by agreement, after the court refused to confirm the arbitration award. [65]
Arising from the same dispute, the State Bar of Nevada charged Randazza with alleged violations of Nevada Rules of Professional Conduct and Randazza entered into a Conditional Guilty Plea as to two allegations: 1.8 (Conflict of Interest: Current Clients: Specific Rules) & 5.6 (Restrictions on Right to Practice); all other claims were dismissed. [66] [67] [68] Randazza was given a one-year suspension, stayed for 18 months, with the requirement that he avoid subsequent ethics complaints for the 18 months following entry of the order, complete 20 hours of CLE classes, and pay the costs associated with the proceedings within 30 days. [68] Reciprocal disciplinary proceedings occurred in other jurisdictions in which Randazza is admitted, including Arizona, Massachusetts, and Florida, where reciprocal discipline was imposed. [69] [70] [71] [65] [72] Notably, the Florida Supreme Court it found no aggravating factors, with the Referee finding that there was "no clear and convincing evidence to suggest that anything [Randazza] may have done on behalf of his other clients was actually adverse to" his complaining clients. [65]
The Church of Scientology has been involved in numerous court disputes across the world. In some cases, when the Church has initiated the dispute, questions have been raised as to its motives. The Church of Scientology says that its use of the legal system is necessary to protect its intellectual property and its right to freedom of religion. Critics say that most of the organization's legal claims are designed to harass those who criticize it and its manipulative business practices.
Strategic lawsuits against public participation, or strategic litigation against public participation, are lawsuits intended to censor, intimidate, and silence critics by burdening them with the cost of a legal defense until they abandon their criticism or opposition.
Democratic Underground is an online community for members of the United States Democratic Party. Its membership is restricted by policy to those who are supportive of the Democratic Party and Democratic candidates for political office.
The Las Vegas Review-Journal is a daily subscription newspaper published in Las Vegas, Nevada, since 1909. It is the largest circulating daily newspaper in Nevada and one of two daily newspapers in the Las Vegas area.
Star Trek fan productions are productions made by fans using elements of the Star Trek franchise. Paramount Pictures, CBS, and their licensees are the only organizations legally allowed to create commercial products with the Star Trek name and trademark. The fan film community has received some coverage from the mainstream media.
Fucking Machines is a pornographic website founded in 2000 that features video and photographs of women engaged in autoerotic sexual stimulation with penetrative sex-machines and sex toys. Based in San Francisco, California, the site is operated by Kink.com. Web entrepreneur Peter Acworth launched Fucking Machines on September 25, 2000, as his company's second website after Kink.com. Devices shown on the site were created with the intent to bring women authentic orgasms. Performers were instructed to allow themselves to be recorded experiencing pleasure.
Dennis Leroy Hof was an American brothel owner. He owned seven legal brothels in Nevada, most notably the Moonlite BunnyRanch. Hof was also a Republican candidate in 2018 for the Nevada Assembly, to which he was posthumously elected less than one month after his death.
Titan Media is a San Francisco–based gay pornographic studio founded by director and cinematographer Bruce Cam and Robert Kirsch (1961–2001) in 1995.
Marc Erik Elias is an American Democratic Party elections lawyer. In 2020, he founded Democracy Docket, a website focused on voting rights and election litigation in the United States, and he left his position as a partner at Perkins Coie to start the Elias Law Group in 2021.
Beck v. Eiland-Hall was a case filed in 2009 before the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), a United Nations agency. It was filed by political commentator Glenn Beck against Isaac Eiland-Hall, concerning the website "GlennBeckRapedAndMurderedAYoungGirlIn1990.com". Eiland-Hall created the site as a parody to express the view that Beck's commentary style challenged his guests to prove a negative. The site's name was based on a joke first used by comedian Gilbert Gottfried at the 2008 Comedy Central Roast of Bob Saget, in which Gottfried jokingly implored listeners to disregard the (non-existent) rumor that Saget had raped and murdered a girl in 1990. Online posters began an Internet meme comparing Gottfried's joke with Beck's style of debate, by requesting Beck disprove he had committed the act in question. Eiland-Hall launched his website on September 1, 2009.
A copyright troll is a party that enforces copyrights it owns for purposes of making money through strategic litigation, in a manner considered unduly aggressive or opportunistic, sometimes without producing or licensing the works it owns for paid distribution. Critics object to the activity because they believe it does not encourage the production of creative works, but instead makes money through the inequities and unintended consequences of high statutory damages provisions in copyright laws intended to encourage creation of such works.
Righthaven LLC was a copyright enforcement company founded in early 2010. Based in Las Vegas, Nevada, it entered agreements from its partner newspapers after finding that their content had been copied to online sites without permission, in order to engage in litigation against the site owners for copyright infringement. The lawsuits were much criticized by commentators, who describe the activity as copyright trolling and the company as a "lawsuit factory". Righthaven LLC's CEO, Steven Gibson, who is currently a partner at Las Vegas law firm Gibson & True LLP, regularly spoke to the media about Righthaven.
Righthaven LLC. v. Democratic Underground LLC, 791 F. Supp. 2d 968, was a copyright infringement case which determined that a contract giving a party right to sue on behalf of a copyright holder does not give the party legal standing to file such lawsuits. This case is one of over 200 similar cases filed by Righthaven against media outlets using content from Stephens Media. Judge Roger L. Hunt ruled that Righthaven lacked standing to file a copyright infringement suit and ordered Righthaven to show cause within two weeks why it should not be sanctioned for failure to disclose Stephens Media as an interested party.
Lawrence G. Walters is an American First Amendment attorney and anti-censorship advocate. He is the head of the Walters Law Group, focusing on First Amendment and Internet law, and has served as an Adjunct Professor of Legal Studies at the University of Central Florida.
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The Florida Medical Marijuana Legalization Initiative, also known as Amendment 2, was approved by voters in the Tuesday, November 8, 2016, general election in the State of Florida. The bill required a super-majority vote to pass, with at least 60% of voters voting for support of a state constitutional amendment. Florida already had a medical marijuana law in place, but only for those who are terminally ill and with less than a year left to live. The goal of Amendment 2 is to alleviate those suffering from these medical conditions: cancer, epilepsy, glaucoma, positive status for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS), post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), Crohn's disease, Parkinson's disease, multiple sclerosis, chronic nonmalignant pain caused by a qualifying medical condition or that originates from a qualified medical condition or other debilitating medical conditions comparable to those listed. Under Amendment 2, the medical marijuana will be given to the patient if the physician believes that the medical use of marijuana would likely outweigh the potential health risks for a patient. Smoking the medication was not allowed under a statute passed by the Florida State Legislature, however this ban was struck down by Leon County Circuit Court Judge Karen Gievers on May 25, 2018.
"SLAPP Suits" is a segment of HBO's news-satire television series Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, focusing on strategic lawsuits against public participation (SLAPP). It first aired on November 10, 2019, as part of the twenty-ninth episode of the series's sixth season. The episode marked British-American comedian and host John Oliver's response to winning a SLAPP defamation lawsuit against him initiated by American mining businessman Robert E. Murray. The lawsuit began in 2017, after Oliver heavily criticized Murray and his company, Murray Energy, in a segment concerning the coal-mining industry in the United States. Murray claimed in his lawsuit that Oliver had carried out a character assassination against him, but the case was dismissed in under a year, and an appeal by Murray Energy was unsuccessful. During the lawsuit, the American Civil Liberties Union filed an amicus brief that was widely covered due to its sarcastic humor.
Gersh v. Anglin is an American lawsuit that tested whether an internet-based ideologue who provoked an anti-Semitic "troll storm" attack on a private person deserved Constitutional free speech protection. The case was widely covered by media in the United States and other countries.
Taylor Dumpson is an American attorney and associate counsel at the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law. After she became the first Black woman president of the student government at American University, she was the target of hate crimes, and responded to an online troll storm with a successful lawsuit.
Morgan & Morgan is an American law firm. Founded in 1988 by John Morgan, it is headquartered in Orlando, Florida. While Morgan & Morgan was historically considered a firm focused on personal injury, medical malpractice and class action lawsuits, it also expanded practices to other areas of legal services. The firm has offices in all 50 U.S. states and Washington, D.C.
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