Liberal Talk Radio

Verizon has apparently decided that the time is ripe for an Epic Battle of Liberties, pitting Right Against Right in a No-Holds-Barred Fight to the Finish. What else can you say about a claim that handing over customer data without a warrant is protected speech under the first amendment?

The response also alleges that the case should be thrown out because even looking into the issue could violate state secrets, of course, but a much longer section of the response tries to make the case that Verizon has a First Amendment right to “petition” the government. “Based on plaintiffs’ own allegations, defendants’ right to communicate such information to the government is fully protected by the Free Speech and Petition Clauses of the First Amendment,” argue Verizon’s lawyers.

This seems like an “everything but the kitchen sink” argument, since Verizon seems to suggest that the company sought out the government on its own, hoping to find someone to accept the phone records that they desperately wanted to hand over. It’s a novel argument, but suggests that Verizon is nervous about the Judicial’s continued acceptance of the state secrets argument.

Plus three points for chutzpah, minus eight for quality of logical reasoning, and a fifteen yard penalty for lack of class.