Update: Mordecai Tendler Vs. Bloggers

Defrocked Rabbi - Mordecai Tendler

The judge cut back the attorney's request but indicated that he would award about $20,000, plus a much more limited set of their costs. A proposed order has been submitted.

Jewish Journal
. . . As for Tendler, his legal filings included petitions submitted in Ohio and California seeking to force the disclosure of the identities of anonymous bloggers who had been attacking him publicly for his alleged conduct. But he withdrew both petitions.

In the California case, a judge ruled Oct. 12 that Tendler must pay the bloggers' legal fees -- a decision that was praised by attorney Paul Alan Levy of Public Citizen, who represented three of the bloggers involved in the case.

"The right to criticize anonymously on the Internet is a fundamental free-speech right and an important tool for whistle-blowers and consumers who speak out about the misconduct or corruption of big companies or public figures," Levy said in a press release.