If you’ve ever donated to The #SatanicTemple thinking it would be used to protect #AbortionRights, or even to keep the lights on, there’s a nonzero chance that money is actually being used to bankroll legal threats against people who criticize them on TikTok or Facebook

See this video of #TheSatanicHousewife, for example:

(#FuckTheSatanicTemple)

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 )
---
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”).

#TheSatanicTemple's complaint suing #TheSatanicHousewife is now available

https://the.satanic.wiki/images/7/78/D-1-GN-22-006797_-_Plaintiff%27s_Original_Petition_w_Ex_76AC6EC7_-_2022-11-23.pdf

D-1-GN-22-006797 in #TravisCounty, #Texas

A woman, #TheSatanicHousewife, warned people on TikTok that The Satanic Temple cannot help people get abortions and has a history of abusive behavior.

#TST threatened to *sue* her and forced her to record a "retraction" which she read verbatim under the threat of litigation.

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

The #SatanicTemple sued her anyway.

Nevermind that she was largely accurate, and overly generous where she was inaccurate:
https://queersatanic.com/today-is-a-good-day-for-the-satanic-temple-to-release-its-finances/

The Satanic Housewife's complaint, by the way, was that #TheSatanicTemple had sent her government name and home address out to a bunch of random email addresses they thought *might* be hers, while identifying her as a #Satanist in the process.

Not really "being mean on the Internet", is it?