Judicial Watch Lawsuit
On March 5, 2009, in a U.S. District Court in Columbus, Judicial Watch filed a lawsuit charging that Jones-Kelley (along with employees Fred Williams and Doug Thompson) improperly searched "confidential state databases" in an attempt to retaliate against Joe Wurzelbacher's criticism of then-presidential candidate Barack Obama. The lawsuit states that the actions of these individuals "are sufficient to chill or silence a person of ordinary firmness from future First Amendment activities." Judicial Watch filed the federal civil rights lawsuit on behalf of Wurzelbacher, alleging that "officials of the State of Ohio violated Mr. Wurzelbacher's constitutional rights by illegally accessing confidential information from its official databases." The Associated Press reports that Jones-Kelley must respond to the lawsuit within 20 days. Jones-Kelley's attorney, H. Ritchey Hollenbaugh, has declined to comment on the lawsuit and has stated that he is "studying it." On May 7, 2009, the Associated Press reported that Jones-Kelly, "denies that she authorized state searches about the man known as "Joe the Plumber" after he questioned Barack Obama on the 2008 campaign trail." In addition, she "acknowledged donating $2,500 to the Obama campaign but denied providing additional help."
On November 15, 2009, the Associated Press reported that "Ohio taxpayers are paying the bill for the legal defense of three former state employees sued by “Joe the Plumber,” who claims they illegally accessed his personal information leading up to last fall’s presidential election."
On August 4, 2010, the U.S District Court in Columbus dismissed the lawsuit on the grounds that the privacy violation didn't amount to a constitutional violation to the right to privacy.
Read more about this topic: Controversial Ohio Database Searches Of Joe Wurzelbacher
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