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Divorce fight turns into free speech case
Divorce can be horrific and when there are kids involved, the bitterness has to lie under a blanket of child protection. Anthony Morelli was so frustrated with his divorce, he launched a blog called "The Psycho Ex Wife." For four years, he wrote about his nasty divorce with his ex and provided a community for people tangled up in fierce custody battles and gave plenty of scathing descriptions of his "PEW" as he calls her.
I thought it was no surprise that a judge ordered Morelli to take his site down, arguing that "your children are being hurt because you are bad mouthing the woman they love in public." But Morelli doesn't agree and many lawyers actually take his side that this is turning into a free speech case. A new site, SaveThePsychoExWife.com, is now linked to the homepage of The Psycho Ex-Wife. The new site argues:
Judge Diane E. Gibbons has violated the father's civil rights by ordering him to remove the blog. [...] The existence of the website, in and of itself, has no affect on his children. It would forever remain so, provided both parents monitor the children's computer usage as any good parent should.
I don't buy it. Family law judges routinely order each parent not to denigrate the other parent in the presence of the children. Isn't a blog just an extension of that?
The free speech issue is a tricky one. The First Amendment pretty much guarantees your right to be a complete jerk. I've always felt the greatest gift divorcing parents can give their kids is to let them be blissfully unaware of all the bitterness surrounding the breakup. And I support a judge's right to give those kids that gift.
--Sharon Kennedy Wynne
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THE AUTHORS
Sharon Kennedy Wynne has sunscreen in her blood. She may have been born in Buffalo but she got here as fast as she could, in time for kindergarten. She grew up in St. Petersburg, graduated from the University of Florida journalism school, and even got married at Sunken Gardens. She's one of the few adults we know who actually loves taking her kids to the beach. She has two sons and with 10 years of parenting under her belt, she's starting to feel a little less out of her league. She comes from a large family and loves to debate, so brace yourself when the hot topics come up.
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Freelance writer Courtney Cairns Pastor wasn’t so sure about having kids and how she would balance child-rearing with her journalism career. It turned out that her journalism training went to good use. As the mom to a funny, active toddler, she learned to handle him like she did her sources. Never ask yes or no questions (the answer will always be no), get him to be specific (are you crying because you’re wet or your tooth hurts?) and be prepared for anything because no two days are the same. When she’s not playing trucks, Courtney crams for her book club, trains for races and occasionally bursts into showtunes. E-mail her at 
Suzannah DiMarzio has it bad for the Mouse. Although she grew up outside of Boston, she took her degree in tourism management down to Orlando just to work at Disney and the travel industry. Of course, when she married her high school sweetheart, the reception was at Disney. She’s now a seasoned stay-at-home mom to two tweens and a toddler – and yes, that is as crazy as it sounds. Suzannah has her own blog, Comment Policy
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