What the Hales? Florida Judge Attacks Free Speech of YouTubers and Journalists
Regardless of the matters of fact between the neighbors, the real issue has become Judge Craig DeThomasis, who treats his courtroom like a star chamber. He has repeatedly chastised and berated Jeremy and his attorneys. He has refused to turn over public hearing recordings, claiming that they are private and can’t be disseminated. He has refused to recuse himself two times and is now facing a third motion to recuse.
One of the worst things the judge has done to Jeremy and his girlfriend is to restrict Jeremy’s movements on his own property without hearing the facts of the case. It has been months since the neighbor filed the protection order, and no evidentiary hearing has been held. Jeremy cannot drive on his public road because it abuts the neighbor’s property, and he must stay 500 feet away from her property at all times. Further, he cannot use a large portion of his own front yard because of the injunction.
Worse, his Second Amendment rights have been removed with no evidentiary hearing to decide if he is actually a threat. Meanwhile, he says he’s been threatened by the neighbor and her associates with all manner of bodily harm. He is also prohibited from hiring security due to the injunction, as he cannot be around anyone with guns.
Larry Forman, the DUI Guy, a lawyer with a YouTube channel, and I went over the recent motion to dismiss the judge on a stream yesterday. Forman has a recap of the events leading up to this situation in the video below. This will be an important and interesting case to watch.
Can a judge show aggression and hostility toward a respondent in his court—because the respondent is a YouTuber and the judge doesn’t like public attention—and stay on the case? The law says no. Will he follow it? So far, he hasn’t, and it doesn’t look like he will suddenly reform.
Jeremy’s evidentiary hearing is finally scheduled for March 1, but DeThomasis has put restrictions on his witnesses who don’t appear to be on the plaintiff's witnesses list, which raises serious questions about how the trial can possibly be called fair. The judge has also forced the removal of one of Jeremy’s lawyers due to the judge’s naked hostility toward the lawyer, which is written in black and white all over his court orders.
It’s one of the worst cases of “black robe-itis” I’ve seen in some years. DeThomasis truly believes he is the law and that everything he says becomes the law, even though his job is only to listen and interpret the law. Instead, DeThomasis spends inordinate amounts of time in every hearing listening to the sound of his own voice, complaining about YouTube, Jeremy’s attorneys, and anything else he can think of to avoid hearing the evidence.
When Forman began covering this story, his law firm received a hostile phone call, which some close to the story believe could be connected to the court system in Levy County. The individual said he is planning on filing a Bar complaint against Forman for covering this case. Retaliation against media trying to cover a public hearing creates a chilling effect on free speech. What is going on in that court? The American public should want to know.