TACOMA, Wash. (AP) — A federal judge has dismissed most claims that members of an Olympia antiwar group brought against two employees of Joint Base Lewis-McChord over the infiltration of their organization.
But U.S. District Judge Ronald Leighton said in his ruling this week that the protesters can continue to pursue allegations that their free-speech and privacy rights were violated.
The group, Olympia Port Militarization Resistance, was infiltrated by a civilian employee of the base named John Towery, who eventually became the administrator of the group’s email list. Members sued Towery and his boss, Thomas Rudd.
Leighton declined to dismiss allegations that Towery and Rudd knowingly violated the protesters’ First Amendment rights by targeting them for the content of their speech and their Fourth Amendment privacy rights by infiltrating their email list.
The judge said the plaintiff’s claims, by Bellingham attorney Lawrence Hildes, have been confusing and poorly drafted, but they nevertheless raise legitimate constitutional concerns.
