Kailyn Lowry might be having second thoughts about her decision to escalate the feud with her Teen Mom 2 co-star Briana DeJesus by filing a defamation lawsuit because a well known 1st Amendment attorney has just signed on to represent Briana!
Marc J. Randazza of the Randazza Legal Group filed notice of appearance as counsel of record for Briana in Florida court on Friday. The Randazza Legal Group is based in Massachusetts, but Marc is licensed to practice in multiple states, including Florida. His name and face may be familiar to many because he has handled numerous headline-grabbing cases and is a frequent commentator on Infowars and CNN.
Marc is a staunch defender of the 1st Amendment. To that end, he has represented a rather long list of controversial clients. “Randazza represents multiple far-right figures,” reads Marc’s Wikipedia entry, “including conspiracy theorists Alex Jones, Mike Cernovich, and Chuck Johnson; and neo-Nazi, white supremacist, antisemitic conspiracy theorist Andrew Anglin.”
In addition to representing numerous clients on the far right, Marc has also made a name for himself defending clients in the adult entertainment industry. “He has represented a number of well-known adult entertainment companies including Kink.com, Bang Bus, and Milf Hunter. He also represents media businesses such as BME and bloggers in SLAPP suits.”
Personally, I have a lot of respect for Marc’s work against SLAPP suits, and I commend Marc and his firm for their efforts in shutting down the “copyright troll” company Righthaven in 2011.
Marc also represented The Satanic Temple in their discrimination lawsuit against Twitter, and he did it pro bono.
Given Marc’s connection to the alt right, neo-Nazis, and white supremacists, members of The Satanic Temple were divided on whether or not they wanted his legal aid. If you were unaware, The Satanic Temple is a nontheistic religious group that “employs the literary Satan as a metaphor to promote pragmatic skepticism, rational reciprocity, personal autonomy, and curiosity…The organization’s participation in public affairs includes political actions as well as lobbying efforts, with a focus on exposing Christian privilege when it interferes with personal religious freedom.” [Source: Wikipedia]
Another issue that Marc has fought for in the past is having public access (including cameras) in the courtroom. “Randazza has handled a number of ‘cameras in the courtroom’ cases, defending the rights of the news media to attend and televise courtroom proceedings.” It sounds like whatever “chaos” happens in the Kail v. Briana lawsuit, it won’t be going on behind closed doors! Whether or not that will also apply to MTV cameras remains to be seen.
In regards to defending defamation suits in particular, here is what the Randazza Legal Group website says:
Defending defamation suits is one of our areas of greatest involvement. We defend defamation suits nationwide, and have handled some high-profile defamation defense cases. In 2013, the firm successfully lobbied the Nevada legislature to pass an Anti-SLAPP statute, bringing Nevada to the forefront of efforts to protect free expression from its greatest threat — thin skinned individuals with too much money to burn and ethically flexible attorneys.
We are not absolutists — we agree that sometimes someone may lie about another, causing real reputational harm deserving of redress. However, we believe that more than 75% of the defamation suits filed nationwide are unjust and a blight on a nation that is supposed to be committed to wide-open and robust debate.
If you are a defamation defendant, chances are, we would love to defend you.
If you are curious who Marc will be going up against in the lawsuit, Kail Lowry is being represented by The Trembley Law Firm in Florida. The three attorneys listed on the complaint filing are Yadhira Ramirez-Toro, Steven G. Hurley and Hubert G. Menendez.
Asa Hawks is a writer and editor for Starcasm. You can contact Asa via Twitter, Facebook, or email at starcasmtips(at)yahoo.com
