Quinn v. Gjoni (Lawyers Weekly No. 11-055-16)
NOTICE: All slip opinions and orders are subject to formal revision and are superseded by the advance sheets and bound volumes of the Official Reports. If you find a typographical error or other formal error, please notify the Reporter of Decisions, Supreme Judicial Court, John Adams Courthouse, 1 Pemberton Square, Suite 2500, Boston, MA, 02108-1750; (617) 557-1030; SJCReporter@sjc.state.ma.us 15-P-540 Appeals Court ZOË TIBERIUS QUINN[1] vs. ERON GJONI. No. 15-P-540. Suffolk. March 18, 2016. – May 19, 2016. Present: Milkey, Agnes, & Meade, JJ. Abuse Prevention. Protective Order. Practice, Civil, Appeal, Moot case. Jurisdiction. Moot Question. Complaint for protection from abuse filed in the Dorchester Division of the Boston Municipal Court Department on September 16, 2014. A hearing to extend an abuse prevention order was had before Serge Georges, Jr., J., and a motion to vacate the order was heard by James W. Coffey, J. Jeffrey G. Harris for the defendant. Felicia H. Ellsworth (Tasha J. Bahal & Daniel C. Wewers with her) for the plaintiff. Daniel J. Lyne & Theodore J. Folkman for Eugene Volokh & another, amici curiae, submitted a brief. MILKEY, J. The plaintiff, Zoë Quinn, obtained an abuse prevention order against her ex-boyfriend, Eron Gjoni. That order included a provision restricting Gjoni’s ability to post information about Quinn online. On appeal, Gjoni principally argues that this provision impermissibly interfered with his rights pursuant to the First Amendment to the United States Constitution, and he urges us to reach those arguments even though the order is no longer in effect. For the reasons set forth below, we decline to do so. Background. Quinn is a designer of video games who — as both parties appear to agree — has become a controversial figure in gaming circles. The parties dated for several months. In seeking an abuse prevention order pursuant to G. L. c. 209A, § 3, Quinn alleged that Gjoni abused her in various respects, including through being violent toward her on one occasion. She also alleged that after she and Gjoni broke up, he published online a lengthy screed that included highly personal information about her, and that this in turn incited many third parties to harass her, including through making numerous “death and rape threats” to her. Gjoni concedes that he posted information about Quinn online, and he does not appear to contest that third parties have heaped significant abuse on her. Rather, the parties appear to dispute the extent to which Gjoni should be deemed legally responsible for causing the third parties to act as they have.[2] Quinn originally obtained the abuse prevention order (order) at an ex parte hearing held in the Dorchester Division […]