Louisiana officials will soon be able to sue citizens over internet posts with their personal info

This story was originally published by the Louisiana Illuminator.

Starting next year, hundreds of Louisiana officials will be able to sue private citizens, businesses and government entities for not removing their basic biographical information from the internet. 

Gov. Jeff Landry and state lawmakers approved a new law earlier this year allowing a wide swath of public officials to bring lawsuits against those who don’t take down online posts with officials’ personal-identifying information when they request it. 

Anyone who doesn’t take the information off social media or websites could also face criminal penalties under the new law, including up to 90 days in prison and a fine of up to $1,000 per violation. 

States across the country have approved similar laws in recent years after a handful of high-profile attacks on judges and other politicians. By shielding their personal information from the public, government officials hope to reduce their risk to political violence. 

But Louisiana’s version is more sweeping than almost all other states’ laws. It will entitle a wider range of elected officials to sue over internet posts for more reasons, according to a review of dozens of states’ privacy laws. 

Government transparency advocates said Louisiana’s law will infringe on citizens’ First Amendment rights and lead to frivolous lawsuits. Attorney Scott Sternberg described the new law as “wildly unconstitutional” in a memo he wrote on behalf of the Louisiana Press Association earlier this year. 

“Effectively, the Louisiana Legislature has decided to criminalize the publication of a church birthday calendar, the mortgage documents required by federal law, birth announcements, engagement party RSVP websites and traffic tickets,” he wrote.

“This law will undoubtedly lead to more litigation, higher costs for public and private entities, and a chilling effect on speech,” Sternberg said.

New limits on social media, news articles, political commentary

In Louisiana, the ability to bring a lawsuit or criminal charges over internet posts is already in effect for active and retired judges and family members who live with them. Starting in February, it will be available to many more government officials and their relatives. 

At that point, it will extend to current statewide elected officials, state legislators and public service commissioners, current or retired district attorneys, current or retired assistant district attorneys, and current or retired district attorney investigators. Spouses, children and other dependents who live with these officials will also be covered.

Among items that officials and their relatives can demand come down off the internet are their home addresses, telephone numbers, personal email addresses, marital records, birth dates, schools and daycares of their children, places of worship and employment locations of spouses, children and dependents. 

Governments will have 15 days after receiving a request from one of these officials to take their personal information off the internet or provide a reason why they can’t.

Individuals and private businesses will have 72 hours to remove the protected information before they become vulnerable to a lawsuit or criminal charges. 

This new restriction will apply to any type of internet post, including news stories, the state’s political campaign contributor database, private websites and social media posts from constituents. 

The breadth of Louisiana’s law is what sets it apart from 38 other states with similar statutes, which were identified by the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts. In other states, the provisions apply to far fewer people, often only judges, prosecutors and law enforcement.

The scope of what can be taken off the internet is also narrower in other states. It sometimes includes just home addresses, telephone numbers and email accounts, and it almost never applies to someone’s place of worship. 

Texas, for example, enacted a law in September that allows judges and their families to sue over internet posts with personal information, but its doesn’t apply to other types of elected officials. It also doesn’t apply to content that involves “reporting, news gathering, speaking, or engaging in other activities intended to inform the public on matters of public interest or public concern.” 

Judges fear violence

Judges have been pushing states to adopt these new security measures for themselves in response to violent attacks on the judiciary. 

They started pursuing the state laws after U.S. District Court Judge Esther Sales’ son was murdered at her home in New Jersey in 2020. The man who ambushed her family had appeared before her in court. 

The assault on Salas’ home led to a new federal law that allows federal judges and their families to demand the removal of internet posts with their personal information, but the federal statute is less restrictive than the Louisiana version.

Unlike Louisiana, the federal law does not permit judges to require the removal of such information from news stories, political commentary and “other speech on a matter of public concern.” Federal judges also don’t have a right to sue private citizens or businesses for damages under the federal law.

Louisiana judges have experienced threats of violence that made the state law necessary, said Judge Tiffany Chase, who serves on the state’s 4th Circuit Court of Appeal, during a legislative hearing in 2024. 

Orleans Parish Criminal Court Judge Kimya Holmes was stalked by a family member of one of the teenagers she sent to prison for the killing of 73 year-old Linda Frickey during a botched 2022 carjacking. Chase also had a person who appeared before her in court show up at her house, she said. 

“We are in a more precarious situation,” Chase said last year. 

Louisiana drafted its law to look like a Maryland judicial security statute, which passed after a district court judge there was murdered in his driveway. 

Yet the Maryland law is not as sweeping as Louisiana’s. It does not allow for lawsuits or criminal charges to be brought over personal information included in a news story, political commentary or “any other speech on matters of public concern,” as the Louisiana law does.  

The Maryland law also applies solely to judges and hasn’t been expanded to allow other elected officials to bring lawsuits. 

State lawmakers worry about violence too

Judges aren’t the only ones fearing for their personal safety.

California and Florida passed laws limiting access to elected officials’ home addresses after Minnesota House Democratic Caucus leader Melissa Hortmann and her husband were murdered in a political attack carried out at their home. The same gunman also shot and injured  Minnesota state Sen. John Hoffman and his wife.

In California, state lawmakers closed off access to elected officials’ home addresses included on their voter registration forms, which used to be given out on a limited basis to journalists. 

In Florida, legislators approved a new law restricting access to elected officials’ addresses on publicly-available government documents to just their home city and ZIP code.

But Louisiana legislators passed their law a few days before the Minnesota ambushes took place, and its protections go well beyond what California and Florida have done.

Neither California nor Florida allow elected officials to sue private citizens or businesses for posting their home address – or other personal information – on the internet. Free speech advocates have said that is likely because such a law impinges on people’s constitutional rights.

“This kind of behavior isn’t going to hold up to constitutional scrutiny,” said David Cuillier, director of the Freedom of Information Project at the University of Florida.

California used to have a similar law in place prohibiting people from posting state lawmakers’ telephone numbers and home addresses on the internet if the lawmakers’ feared for their safety. It was repealed in 2017 after a federal judge ruled the statute unconstitutional.

At the time, gun rights activists had posted online the home addresses and telephone numbers of 40 California state lawmakers who voted for a law that required the state to collect personal information about gun buyers. When lawmakers received threats and the state demanded that activists remove the posts, the activists sued California in federal court and won. 

In Louisiana, free speech advocates weren’t given the chance to raise concerns about the expansion of the law that allows elected officials to sue over internet content. 

The legislation, sponsored by state Rep. Marcus Bryant, D-New Iberia, initially only expanded the right for lawsuits from judges to district attorneys, their staff and their retirees. Lawmakers changed it to apply to other elected officials – such as the governor, attorney general and themselves – very late in the legislative process after public hearings and the opportunity to provide testimony on the bill had closed. 

Louisiana lawmakers also didn’t debate the amendment to expand the protections to themselves and other elected officials before voting. With no discussion, they approved the bill unanimously in both chambers.

Louisiana Illuminator is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Louisiana Illuminator maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Greg LaRose for questions: info@lailluminator.com.