Sunday, March 26, 2006

First Amendment, Discovery, and Land Use Disputes

In Matthews v City of Maitland, here's the link, the 5th held that the trial court erred in ordering a group of citizens who were contesting a land use decision to identify the donors (and in particular, attorneys/developers/accountants for same) to their trial fund. Citing First Amendment and related concerns, the Court granted cert and quashed the discovery order, finding that the effect (and probably intent) was a chilling effect on donors, and that the information was not relevant or likely to lead to relevant evidence.

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