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Supreme Court of the United States ------♦ ------ADVENTURE OUTDOORS, INC.; JAY WALLACE, a Georgia Resident; and CECILIA WALLACE, a Georgia Resident, Petitioners, V

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Supreme Court of the United States ------♦ ------ADVENTURE OUTDOORS, INC.; JAY WALLACE, a Georgia Resident; and CECILIA WALLACE, a Georgia Resident, Petitioners, V No. _________ ================================================================ In The Supreme Court of the United States --------------------------------- ♦ --------------------------------- ADVENTURE OUTDOORS, INC.; JAY WALLACE, a Georgia Resident; and CECILIA WALLACE, a Georgia Resident, Petitioners, v. MICHAEL BLOOMBERG, a New York Resident and Mayor of the City of New York; TANYA MARIE NOONER, a Georgia Resident; MELISSA MERCED, a Georgia Resident, of the Nooner Investigative Group, a/k/a Nooner Initiatives, Inc.; JOSEPH TOUNSEL, a Georgia Resident, of the Nooner Investigative Group, a/k/a Nooner Initiatives, Inc. (the Estate of Tanya Marie Nooner, deceased); THE NOONER INVESTIGATIVE GROUP, a/k/a Nooner Initiatives, Inc.; THE JAMES MINTZ GROUP, and JAMES MINTZ, individually, Certain of Its Other Principals & Agents, As Yet Unidentified; MICHAEL CARDOZO, Corporation Counsel of the City of New York; JOHN FEINBLATT, Criminal Justice Coordinator of the City of New York; and RAYMOND KELLY, a New York Resident and Chief of the New York City Police Department, Respondents. --------------------------------- ♦ --------------------------------- On Petition For A Writ Of Certiorari To The Court Of Appeals Of The State Of Georgia --------------------------------- ♦ --------------------------------- PETITION FOR WRIT OF CERTIORARI --------------------------------- ♦ --------------------------------- BOB BARR* EDWIN MARGER LAW OFFICES OF EDWIN MARGER, LLC 44 North Main Street Jasper, Georgia 30143 706-253-3060 [email protected] Attorneys for Petitioners *Counsel of Record ================================================================ COCKLE LAW BRIEF PRINTING CO. (800) 225-6964 OR CALL COLLECT (402) 342-2831 i QUESTION PRESENTED Whether the Georgia Supreme Court and Georgia’s inferior courts can ignore this Court’s mandates on appropriate and lawful restrictions of First Amend- ment freedoms and in so doing elevate the Georgia Anti-SLAPP (Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation) Statute verification requirement over those First Amendment parameters. ii RULE 14.1(b) STATEMENT A list of all parties to the proceeding in the court whose judgment is the subject of the petition is as follows: The Petitioners are: Adventure Outdoors, Inc. (a Georgia closely-held family Corporation) Cecilia Wallace, a Georgia citizen Jay Wallace, a Georgia citizen The Respondents are: Michael Bloomberg, Mayor of New York City Michael Cardozo, Corporation Counsel of New York City The Estate of Tanya Marie Nooner (Ms. Nooner is a deceased Georgia investigator retained by the New York Respondents to enter Adventure Outdoors to attempt to simulate a “straw” purchase) John Feinblatt, Criminal Justice Coordinator of New York City Raymond Kelly, Chief of the New York City Police Department Melissa Merced, a Georgia citizen and a co- investigator with Ms. Nooner James Mintz and the James Mintz Group (an inter- national investigative agency) Joseph Tounsel, a Georgia citizen and a co- investigator with Ms. Nooner iii RULE 29.6 STATEMENT Adventure Outdoor, Inc., a closely-held Georgia corporation (privately held) Wallace and Wallace, Inc., a closely-held Georgia corporation (privately held and the holding company for Adventure Outdoors, Inc.) iv TABLE OF CONTENTS Page QUESTION PRESENTED ..................................... i RULE 14.1(b) STATEMENT .................................. ii RULE 29.6 STATEMENT ...................................... iii TABLE OF AUTHORITIES ................................... vi PETITION FOR WRIT OF CERTIORARI ............ 1 OPINIONS BELOW ............................................... 1 STATEMENT OF JURISDICTION ....................... 2 CONSTITUTIONAL AND STATUTORY PROVI- SIONS INVOLVED ............................................. 2 STATEMENT OF THE FACTS OF THE CASE BELOW ............................................................... 7 THE SUPREME COURT’S ESTABLISHMENT OF THE PARAMETERS OF “FREE” SPEECH AND THE APPROPRIATE INHERENT RE- STRICTIONS ON SPEECH ............................... 15 THE REASONS TO GRANT CERTIORARI ......... 21 THE TITLE OF THE STATUTE SECTION AND ITS FAILURE TO PRECIPITATE (ON THESE FACTS) THE INTERPOSITION OF GEORGIA’S ANTI-SLAPP STATUTE ............. 23 CONCLUSION ....................................................... 35 v TABLE OF CONTENTS – Continued Page APPENDIX Remittitur from the Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia................................................ App. 1 Third Division, Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia Order of November 24, 2010 .............. App. 3 Superior Court Judge of Cobb County, Georgia, the Honorable George Kreeger Order of Sep- tember 30, 2009 .............................................. App. 13 United States District Court Judge, the Hon- orable Owen Forrester Order of September 21, 2007 (Redacted Order) ............................. App. 18 Supreme Court of Georgia Denial of Petition for Certiorari on May 16, 2011 ...................... App. 75 Denial of the Motion for Reconsideration of the Petition for Certiorari in the Supreme Court of Georgia of June 13, 2011............................ App. 76 Petitioners’ Petition for Certiorari Before the Supreme Court of Georgia filed January 1, 2011 ................................................................ App. 77 Motion for Reconsideration of the Denial of Certiorari Before the Supreme Court of Georgia ......................................................... App. 108 vi TABLE OF AUTHORITIES Page CASES Adventure Outdoors, et al. v. Bloomberg, et al., 06-1-9667-18 .................................................. 1, 29, 32 Aikens v. Wisconsin, 195 U.S. 194 (1904) .................. 31 Ajuelo v. Auto-Soler Co., 61 Ga. App. 216 (1939) ....... 26 Appeal Nos. 07-14966-HH and 15951-HH (appeal of 06-1-9667-18) ............................... 1, 29, 32 Atlanta Humane Society v. Harkins, 278 Ga. 451, 603 S.E. 2d 289 (2004) .................. 22, 27, 28, 29 Chaplinksy v. New Hampshire, 315 U.S. 568 (1942) ....................................................................... 24 Civil Action File No. 06-1-9667-18 ................... 1, 29, 32 Civil Action No. 1:06-CV-2897-JOF. (R.31.) ..... 1, 29, 32 Cunningham v. State, 260 Ga. 827 (1991) ................. 24 Dun and Bradstreet, Inc. v. Greenmoss Build- ers, Inc., 472 U.S. 749, 105 S. Ct. 2939 (1985) ....... 21 Gertz v. Robert Welch, Inc., 418 U.S. 323, 94 S. Ct. 2997, 41 L. Ed. 2d 789 (1974) ............... passim Hawks v. Hinely, 252 Ga. App. 510, 556 S.E. 2d 547 (2001) ................................................................ 28 Herbert v. Lando, 441 U.S. 153 (1979) ...................... 25 Masson v. Slaton, 320 F. Supp. 669 (N.D. Ga. 1970) ........................................................................ 32 New York Times v. Sullivan, 376 U.S. 254, 84 S. Ct. 710 (1964) .......................................... 11, 18, 26 vii TABLE OF AUTHORITIES – Continued Page Rabun v. McCoy, 273 Ga. App. 311, 615 S.E. 2d 131 (2005) ................................................................ 32 Schenck v. United States, 249 U.S. 47, 39 S. Ct. 247, 63 L. Ed. 470 (1919) ........................................ 32 Speiser v. Randall, 357 U.S. 513, 78 S. Ct. 1332, 2 L.Ed.2d 1460 (1958) ............................. 18, 19 Thibadeau v. Crane, 131 Ga. App. 591 (1974) ........... 26 STATUTES AND RULES Ga. Code Ann. § 26-1307 ............................................ 32 O.C.G.A. § 9-10-113 ...................................................... 4 O.C.G.A. § 51-5-4 ................................................ passim O.C.G.A. § 51-5-7(4) ............................................ passim O.C.G.A. § 9-11-11.1 ........................................... passim Sup. Ct. R. 10(c) ............................................................ 8 CONSTITUTIONAL PROVISIONS State of Georgia Constitution, Art. 1. § 1, ¶ 5 ............ 3 State of Georgia Constitution, Amend. I ............. 34, 35 United States Constitution, Amend. I ............... passim 1 PETITION FOR WRIT OF CERTIORARI This is a Petition for a Writ of Certiorari by Petitioners, Adventure Outdoors, Inc. and Jay and Cecilia Wallace (Adventure Outdoors’ owners) from the dismissal of a defamation action alleging acts of defamation per se by the Respondents; the said defa- mation action was dismissed in the Georgia Courts because the Petitioners did not file a procedural verification statement (pursuant to O.C.G.A. § 9-11- 11.1) which the Georgia Courts held was necessary even in the face of false and malicious defamatory statements by Respondents. The dismissal is alleged by Petitioners to have completely ignored sound First Amendment precedent of this Court. --------------------------------- ♦ --------------------------------- OPINIONS BELOW A decision of the Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia dated November 24, 2010 affirming the judgment of the Superior Court of Cobb County, Georgia. A denial of certiorari by the Supreme Court of the State of Georgia dated May 16, 2011. A denial of the Motion for Reconsideration by the Supreme Court of the State of Georgia dated June 13, 2011. --------------------------------- ♦ --------------------------------- 2 STATEMENT OF JURISDICTION Under Rule 10(c) of the Rules of the Supreme Court of the United States, each of the several State Courts of Georgia – Cobb County Superior Court, the Georgia Court of Appeals, and the Supreme Court of Georgia – have decided a case in direct conflict with this Court’s rulings on the First Amendment to
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