Ernie Fletcher
Governor KY

Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit litigation firm Public Citizen filed suit on behalf of blogger Mark Nickolas in July of 2006 after Fletcher and his administration allegedly targeted Nickolas’s BluegrassReport blog, preventing it and other blogs from being accessed on state computers. Nickolas believed the ban was retaliation for his scathing criticism of the Fletcher administration in the New York Times.

Nickolas told WebProNews in March a state official testified under oath the Fletcher administration sought to shut down his blog specifically, which he viewed as a violation of the First Amendment. Also in March, newly elected Democratic Governor Steve Bershear reversed Fletcher’s policy against blogs, leaving gateway level filters in place for social networking, erotic, and gambling sites. Government employees were still barred from commenting on blogs while at work.

Bershear, as the new governor, took Fletcher’s place as defendant in the lawsuit. The state agreed under the terms of the settlement their recently established new policy of not blocking blogs and agreed to pay Public Citizen $10,000 in legal fees. 

“The state of Kentucky targeted Web sites it considered ‘unfriendly’ and, in doing so, violated the First Amendment rights of Mark Nickolas and other bloggers,” said Greg Beck, the Public Citizen attorney who handled the case. “We applaud the current administration for recognizing that the state cannot impose special restrictions on websites just because they are run by bloggers instead of big media companies.”
 

Steve Beshear, Kentucky Democratic Governor
(Photo Credit: ChangeforKentucky.com)

WebProNews spoke with the Governor’s spokeswoman, Vicki Glass, about the details of Beshear’s reversal. "Gov. Beshear felt that access to political sites was something government employees could be trusted not to abuse. Those sites that Fletcher blocked, Gov. Beshear is unblocking."

That includes lifting gateway-level bans on political, religious, and sports blogs, as well as shopping websites. Ms. Glass said access to shopping sites like eBay was important for state employees who make purchasing decisions. Access to gambling, dating, pornography, and computer game sites will remain blocked however, including social networking sites like MySpace and Facebook.

The full list of blocked sites was not readily available because the person who handles that specifically was out for observation of the Good Friday holiday. Ms. Glass wasn’t able to define exactly how a MySpace personal profile was different from a blog, but it was clear that the Governor’s office differentiated social networking sites from political blogs and other topical sources. Access to MySpace and Facebook are blocked at the gateway level.

"For what are considered political blogs," she said, "the ban was lifted because they often discuss what’s going on in state government." Beshear felt government employees should have access to relevant information and discussions.

That doesn’t mean they should be allowed to comment on blogs while on the state’s dime, though. Ms. Glass confirmed that commentary during the workday was still prohibited. "The Finance Cabinet," which is in charge of the policy, felt, "that is not a good use of employee time. They can do that on their personal time."

Ms. Glass was also Gov. Beshear’s spokeswoman during his gubernatorial campaign in 2007. According to an AP report, Gov. Fletcher made physical contact with Ms. Glass during a press conference by trying to push her arm away while she attempted to tape record his remarks. She had no comment, though, about anything else regarding Fletcher, including the former technology commissioner Michael Inman’s sworn statement that Fletcher’s executive cabinet secretary, Robbie Rudolph, instituted the ban as political retaliation against critical bloggers.

At the center of that controversy is Mark Nickolas, who founded the BluegrasssReport blog. Inman said under oath that Fletcher’s administration targeted Nickolas specifically. Nickolas has since filed a federal lawsuit, which is still pending, claiming such actions by the state are an unconstitutional violation of free speech.

WebProNews also spoke with Mr. Nickolas, who says the "amateurish" government ban just helped get him more attention. "This closes a sad chapter on the legacy of the Fletcher Administration [which felt] the best way to deal with criticism was to silence it. They made what I did so much more prominent. It became a national story."

The attention also may have helped Nickolas take his political blogging to a national level as well. Though the BluegrassReport is still up and running, he was recruited by former CNET CEO Shelby Bonnie to head up PoliticalBase.com. Nickolas denies his lawsuit is about disallowing employers from monitoring and controlling what sites employees can access while on the job. Instead, it’s about not allowing government to silence political speech.

"Imagine it wasn’t a blog," he said, "but a written pamphlet handed out at the Capitol by hand. Imagine a Republican pamphleteer walks up the steps with me. Imagine they block one [pamphleteer] from entering and not the other. That’s when the government is applying a filter to political speech based on content."

Rush Limbaugh’s website, for example, was not blocked by Fletcher’s Administration. Nickolas likened blogs to talk radio shows, labeling both genres "opinion journalism."

Freedom of speech and the blogosphere were the focus of another nationally-covered snafu on the part of the state government. Recently, Rep. Tim Couch introduced a bill to the state legislature that would ban anonymous online commentary. Rep. Couch said it was just "to make a statement" about online bullying and that he didn’t expect the bill to succeed or to be enforceable if it did.

"The notion that government is threatened by speech is scary," said Nickolas, who called Rep. Couch a "blowhard." "We should be clamoring for more speech not less….Kentucky has enough problems to deal with that require real legislative leadership."  
 
 

The governor was treated for the clot at St. Joseph’s Hospital in Lexington just days after recovering from gallbladder surgery, pancreatitis and a blood infection that kept him in the hospital for almost three weeks.

During the procedure to remove the clot, gubernatorial powers were transferred to Lieutenant Governor Steve Pence, who was in Florida on a personal trip at the time. Pence said he expected the powers to go back to Fletcher some time today.

According to Fletcher spokesman Brett Hall, the governor awoke on Thursday morning with pain in his left arm. He said the arm was swollen and discolored. Fletcher, being a doctor, immediately recognized the signs as a blood clot.

The clot could’ve been quite deadly to the Kentucky governor. Dr. Dale Absher, the interventional radiologist who performed the procedure described the clot as “medium-sized,” and running “from the middle of the vein in the middle of the chest back over to the arm – and there was some in the jugular vein.”

Fletcher had contacted infectious disease specialist Dr. Charles Kennedy, describing his symptoms. Kennedy confirmed the clot and sent him to St. Joseph’s. Kennedy told the Courier Journal of Louisville that this was a “routine procedure when patients are administered very potent, clot-busting drugs.”

The governor is expected to make a complete recovery. Doctors say the clot is no longer at risk for going to the governor’s heart and lungs.

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John Stith is a staff writer for WebProNews covering technology and business.