Maury Blackman fired tech CEO sues journalist for $25m claiming he ruined his reputation after publishing sealed arrest report of alleged domestic violence report of him beating up girlfriend. Tech Inquiry journalist, Jack Poulson has stood his ground, maintaining he was in the right to publish sealed arrest report as the lawsuit brings into question press freedoms.
Trying to coerce journalists from doing their job …. A well to tech CEO is suing an independent journalist who published a domestic violence report of him beating up his then 25 year old girlfriend.
On September 14, 2023, the Executive Director of tech accountability nonprofit Tech Inquiry, Jack Poulson, posted an article on Substack that revealed Premise Data‘s then-CEO Maury Blackman was arrested for domestic violence.
Ex Premise Data accused of beating 25 year old girlfriend
According to the report, police were called to a San Francisco apartment on December 21, 2021, and arrested Blackman, then 53, when they discovered his 25-year-old girlfriend with small cuts to her face and swelling on her left eye after she told police he had ‘just started beating me.’
Blackman was never charged over the alleged incident and police sealed the arrest reported in 2022, which makes it illegal to publish under California law, according to the San Francisco Chronicle.
It remained unclear how the tech CEO came to avoid being charged, along with how the tech CEO managed to even get his arrest report sealed.
The episode has since led to Blackman seeking $25 million in damages after filing a lawsuit against Poulson and Substack for negligence, invasion of privacy and defamation over the publication.
Paulson has maintained that he had no part in extracting the sealed report (one can blame the police for this) which was passed to an un-named party who then passed on the information to the journalist.
According to Poulson, he first received the arrest report from a confidential source, then contacted San Francisco police, who confirmed it. Later, he said, another journalist, whom he declined to identify, obtained the same document legally through a records request and forwarded it to him. At no point did Poulson conspire to acquire the sealed report illegally but simply chose to publish it, deeming the private actions of Blackman worthy of public knowledge, especially given his prominence within the tech field.
But it gets worse.
‘Public Information vs. Sealed Records
Via Reddit: ‘By Thursday, October 12th, the nominal representative of Mr. Blackman escalated to attempting to bribe the author to take down the reporting critical of Mr. Blackman, asking “How much you want for removing?”
“Even a cursory inspection reveals that the document in question for the copyright claim was created by the San Francisco Police Department, and is therefore a public record”
Clarified one reddit user: ‘Public Information vs. Sealed Records: If a third party (like a journalist) obtains information from independent sources, such as leaks or prior public records, they may publish it. Courts have generally ruled that the press cannot be punished for publishing truthful information that was lawfully obtained, even if it pertains to a sealed case.’
Added the reddit user: ‘The journalist is under no obligation to share who gave them the information. Law enforcement would need to prove the journalist engaged in illegal acts,’ citing the California Shield Law which provides statutory and constitutional protections to journalists seeking to maintain the confidentiality of an unnamed source or unpublished information obtained during news gathering.
Blackman’s attorneys argue that the arrest did not concern matters of public significance (debatable at best …) and is personal in nature, concerning only private individuals’ private lives.
The lawsuit cites California penal code that states disseminating information from a sealed arrest is subject to a civil penalty and people who are not authorized to share that information are guilty of a misdemeanor.
‘[Blackman] has suffered severe harm,’ the lawsuit said. ‘Among other things, [Blackman’s] employment ended on December 10, 2023; [his] reputation amongst his friends, family and business associates has been forever altered.
‘[Blackman] has suffered severe emotional distress; [he] has been unable to find subsequent employment, resulting in significant lost employment compensation and benefits; and [he] has been forced to spend money to cure this situation that will haunt him the rest of his life.’
Notice the publishing of the domestic violence act will haunt the tech CEO and not the actual alleged domestic violence episode not haunting Paulson?
Responding to the suit, a media advocate told the Chronicle that punishing journalists for publishing information they obtained legally are unconstitutional.
‘Journalists are entitled to publish documents that they lawfully obtained, specifically government documents,’ said Seth Stern, advocacy director for the nonprofit Freedom of the Press Foundation and former chair of the American Bar Association’s Media, Privacy and Advocacy Law Committee.
‘Unless the city wants to take the position that a sealed arrest report is more sensitive than national security or (identifying) victims of terrible crimes, I don’t think they are in good standing.’
Which is to wonder, if a small community came to find out about the alleged domestic violence episode, hasn’t Paulson’s suit and resulting media attention only served to further notify an ever larger pool of potential employers, business partners that he has a history of bad judgement, anger issues, prone to violence and potentially best avoided?
Which is to further wonder, sometimes actions have dire consequences which might eventually be mitigated if one accepts responsibility for such actions …?
