Many people are now aware of #MattKezhaya, well, in general.

The less said about TST's usual lead counsel, the better.

But in a look at The Satanic Temple's woeful preference in lawyers, this is easily the largest section (and growing ever-larger)

https://queersatanic.com/the-satanic-temple-is-very-bad-at-court-cases/#matthew-kezhaya

#TheSatanicTemple's co-owner and chief spokesperson #DougMisicko a.k.a. #LucienGreaves made an announcement about interviewing TST's lawyer #MattKezhaya in regards to how their (failed, sanction-worthy) #BellePlaine lawsuit was progressing

https://nitter.net/LucienGreaves/status/1607951043416965120#m

Well, all of Friday came and went, and that was #TheSatanicTemple’s deadline to answer us.

Then the weekend and all of Monday came and went with no filing or explanation.

https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/17042463/united-federation-of-churches-llc-v-johnson/?filed_after=&filed_before=&entry_gte=&entry_lte=&order_by=desc

#TST lead counsel #MattKezhaya needed to explain to the judge why he decided to file his preliminary injunction about a Facebook page 2.5 years after the lawsuit started and half a year after being informed that we had in writing and on video assurances the Temple wouldn’t seek that Facebook page.

Kezhaya really needed to make an explanation to the federal judge why the for-profit company that TST owners #DougMisicko and #CevinSoling were suing four former local TST chapter members with wasn’t just using its significant resources to be vexatious litigants in pursuit of a #SLAPP lawsuit.

But the deadline came and went.

Which brings us back to what this is all about: #TheSatanicTemple likes to harass and silence critics rather than live up to its own stated principles or treat people better than the history they've demonstrated so far.

Sometimes people will hear a little about us and our situation, and they will reflexively believe that this is an avoidable situation. That if you do stuff the right way, you'll be fine.

Look, this is not news anyone wants to hear, but that's not how abusive power dynamics work. You don't need to go any further than #TheSatanicHousewife who criticized them accurately on her own TikTok channel then recorded the retraction/apology TST gave her *verbatim* under the threat of a suit — TST still sued her for it.

How you phrase things matters for *winning* a defamation #SLAPP suit, but not really for being *subjected to* a defamation SLAPP suit.

You can't even really out-clever them because rich people and powerful people don't have to be clever to hurt you: that's the whole point of the wealth and power.

The Satanic Temple's lawyer #MattKezhaya is a fucking bozo. His lawsuit antics are sloppy and transparent. OK. But they've still cost us many tens of thousands of dollars just to keep winning motion after motion.

(#DidYouKnow: You can also support us monthly on Patreon
https://www.patreon.com/QueerSatanic )
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5. TST’s True Motive for Bringing this Motion is to Harass Defendants
Finally, as part of the equitable considerations in deciding whether to issue a preliminary injunction, the Court should take heed of evidence that shows that TST’s true motive for bringing its Motion is not to address any imminent harm, but rather to harass Defendants.

On May 26, 2022, TST’s counsel publicly expressed the motivation for pursuing thislitigation against Defendants—referring to Defendants as “morons,” “pathetic,” and “living corpses” and stating his hope that they incur an unsustainable amount of attorneys’ fees defending against this matter. Johnson Decl. ¶ 18 & Ex. 6. (“I hope he [Defendants’ attorney] squeezes every last penny from you living corpses, and anyone that gives you the time of day.”) (emphasis added). More recently, TST’s counsel again expressed improper motives against Defendants through a public Tweet, suggesting that this case is driven more from a sense of vengeance than legitimate legal grounds:

Are these fuckwits still talking about me? Grow up and file an answer so I can get at your financial records. I’m coming for you. Tell the judge on me again, I double dare you.

Johnson Decl. ¶ 20 & Ex. 8 (emphases added). Just a week after posting this public taunt, TST’s counsel followed through on his threat to “com[e] for you” and filed the Motion the night before Thanksgiving, Wednesday, November 23, 2022. In addition to obviously being timed to impact Defendants’ holiday, the substance of the fatally defective, slapdash Motion shows that it is not intended as a legitimate attempt to seek a preliminary injunction. The Motion includes only one, vague declaration from a pseudonymous person that does not include basic, necessary facts to succeed on a request for a preliminary injunction, such as evidence that TST has any legal right to the Memes Page. The Motion also neglects to inform the Court of the most critical evidence that is fatal to the Motion – that TST represented to Defendants over two and a half years ago that they could use the Memes Page “free and clear” and that TST had no interest in it. The Motion does not even attempt to address any harm from the alleged loss of converted property, but rather is a blatant attempt to relitigate the dismissed defamation claim in an attempt to silence Defendants’ religious views, which are critical of TST’s tenets and practices. The Motion is really nothing more than a hollow shell, devoid of any valid grounds. But TST knows that even meritless motions require a response. TST also knows that Defendants are individuals with limited financial means for whom this lawsuit presents a true financial hardship. TST should not be allowed to continue leveraging its disproportionate power to harass Defendants to try to intimidate them into refraining from expressing their beliefs regarding TST.

Given this demonstrated bad faith and improper purpose, this Court would be justified in exercising its inherent power to sanction this contemptable conduct. See Fisk v. Gomez, 239 F.3d 989, 994 (9th Cir. 2001) (discussing a court’s inherent power to sanction “for a variety of types of willful actions, including recklessness when combined with an additional factor such as frivolousness, harassment, or an improper purpose”).

"Tell the judge on me again, I double dare you" - 😘😘😘

Sorry for attaching this same screenshot again, but it is just one of the funniest fucking things in the whole world to keep seeing that tweet paired with the federal court paperwork header.

The Satanic Temple's lawyer #MattKezhaya just *completely* shat the bed over the summer by going onto Reddit with his old law school days, n-word account to say ill-advised things about multiple ongoing cases, then our guy Kazoo *still* can't help himself and just tweets his whole ass like this.

Fuckin' incredible.
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C. TST’s Attorney Has Publicly Stated His Intent to Use This Litigation to Harass Defendants.

The reason that TST has brought its Motion despite the lack of any merit is to harass Defendants. On May 26, 2022, TST’s lead counsel, Matt Kezhaya, publicly stated his improper motivation for pursuing this litigation against Defendants—referring to Defendants as “morons” and “pathetic” and stating his hope that they incur an unsustainable amount of attorneys’ fees in defending against this matter. Johnson Decl. ¶ 18 & Ex. 6. (“I hope he [Defendants’ attorney] squeezes every last penny from you living corpses, and anyone that gives you the time of day.”).

More recently, on November 16, 2022, TST’s counsel again expressed improper motives against

Defendants through a public Tweet, suggesting that this case is driven from a sense of vengeance rather than legitimate legal grounds:

Are these fuckwits still talking about me? Grow up and file an answer so I can get at your financial records. I’m coming for you. Tell the judge on me again, I double dare you.

Johnson Decl. ¶ 19 & Ex. 8. Just days after posting this public taunt, TST followed through on the threat and filed the Motion the night before Thanksgiving, Wednesday, November 23, 2022

"Tell the judge on me again, I double dare you" - 😘😘😘

Sorry for attaching this same screenshot again, but it is just one of the funniest fucking things in the whole world to keep seeing that tweet paired with the federal court paperwork header.

The Satanic Temple's lawyer #MattKezhaya just *completely* shat the bed over the summer by going onto Reddit with his old law school days, n-word account to say ill-advised things about multiple ongoing cases, then our guy Kazoo *still* can't help himself and just tweets his whole ass like this.

Fuckin' incredible.
---
C. TST’s Attorney Has Publicly Stated His Intent to Use This Litigation to Harass Defendants.

The reason that TST has brought its Motion despite the lack of any merit is to harass Defendants. On May 26, 2022, TST’s lead counsel, Matt Kezhaya, publicly stated his improper motivation for pursuing this litigation against Defendants—referring to Defendants as “morons” and “pathetic” and stating his hope that they incur an unsustainable amount of attorneys’ fees in defending against this matter. Johnson Decl. ¶ 18 & Ex. 6. (“I hope he [Defendants’ attorney] squeezes every last penny from you living corpses, and anyone that gives you the time of day.”).

More recently, on November 16, 2022, TST’s counsel again expressed improper motives against

Defendants through a public Tweet, suggesting that this case is driven from a sense of vengeance rather than legitimate legal grounds:

Are these fuckwits still talking about me? Grow up and file an answer so I can get at your financial records. I’m coming for you. Tell the judge on me again, I double dare you.

Johnson Decl. ¶ 19 & Ex. 8. Just days after posting this public taunt, TST followed through on the threat and filed the Motion the night before Thanksgiving, Wednesday, November 23, 2022

How fucking laughable is this shit.

"Yes, The Satanic Temple's owner admitted to paying himself with donation money -- but he deserved it for working hard!"

"Yes, one of the top people in TST was close friends and golfing buddies with Milo Yiannopoulos -- but that was a long time ago (2016)!"

"Yes, TST has no history of successful litigation or people it can point to having helped with abortion access -- but some of our cases are just fail-ING, not fail-ED"

Fucking embarrassing.

If you you need receipts, we've covered this in detail
https://queersatanic.com/today-is-a-good-day-for-the-satanic-temple-to-release-its-finances/

And you can see the bullying TST's briefcase thug #MattKezhaya sent to make #TheSatanicHousewide record their retraction verbatim

https://queersatanic.com/the-satanic-housewife-videos-and-legal-threat-by-the-satanic-temple/

A lot of what we've talked about is fun, and as much harm as they're doing, #TheSatanicTemple is mainly wasting the time and resources of the government.

But here #MattKezhaya switches to talking about something much more sinister:
https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/59182019/60/the-satanic-temple-inc-v-hellerstedt/

> An Austin individual who I am now suing for defamation reported me to the Minnesota bar because I included her “real identity” in a demand letter and because I was mean to her compatriots on the internet.

This. Rat. Fuck.

"Biased! Biased! You're all biased!"

Indeed, the Biden judge is TOO CORRUPT to give Matt Kezhaya and The Satanic Temple a fair opportunity in Boston, apparently.

(In reality, the judge in the #BostonInvocation case has been extraordinarily patient with the antics of #TheSatanicTemple and #MattKezhaya so far.)

https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/31223191/47/the-satanic-temple-inc-v-city-of-boston/

https://www.universalhub.com/2022/satanic-lawyer-vows-new-suit-against-boston-time cc @universalhub

> District Judges Wright and Kelley are biased.

Just beyond parody.

Here are the two people who sanctioned Matt Kezhaya for misbehavior while representing #TheSatanicTemple

For #BellePlaine, it was Judge Wilhelmina Wright, an Obama appointee:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wilhelmina_Wright

Judge Angel Kelley who did the sanction of #MattKezhaya in the #BostonInvocation case?

She's a Biden appointee:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angel_Kelley

For The Satanic Temple, Inc. et al v. Hellerstedt et al (#AnnDoeI), we can see that the case is currently paused because TST's lead counsel #MattKezhaya, who is based out of Arkansas and Minnesota, is appearing as a guest in Texas (that is, "pro hac vice").

However, Kezhaya has behaved so badly in other courts across the country, he's been sanctioned *at least* twice since TST Inc. v Hellerstedt started.

The federal district court judge in Texas stopped everything till Kezhaya explained himself to the court.

This is that explanation:
https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/59182019/60/the-satanic-temple-inc-v-hellerstedt/

So, what is #TheSatanicTemple doing? It's losing court cases so badly that one is Texas is on pause while TST's lead counsel #MattKezhaya explains his sanctions in other recent cases

https://www.reddit.com/r/TheSatanicCirclejerk/comments/yy5ood/the_satanic_temples_texas_abortion_lawsuit_on/

But The Satanic Temple is also making things much worse for everyone around them. Certainly for #Satanists who have to deal with their bogus "satanic #abortion ritual" now, but more impactfully, it's affecting actual #AbortionAccess orgs

https://jezebel.com/satanic-temple-abortion-rights-religious-exemption-real-1849073332

Very little journalism like that is written about them as opposed to recitations of TST's press releases, either to praise it or condemn it.

The claim, "Well at least they're DOING something" only is possible to make if you don't look at what they're doing.

Mainly what the Temple does is get the Temple and its owners attention, sometimes by feeding literally fascist media some easy stories to write because TST can rest assured that right wing media will inflate TST's importance as the villain so the stakes to a fearful audience appear more dire.

What they are doing is much worse than doing nothing.