Texas judge accused of 'doxxing' political critic faces federal lawsuit, growing push to oust him from office
What began as a controversial Facebook post has spiraled into a legal firestorm for a West Texas judge, who now faces a federal civil rights lawsuit and an unprecedented effort by his own district attorney to remove him from office.Midland County Judge Terry Johnson is accused of posting a political critic’s Social Security number, driver’s license number and date of birth on Facebook less than 24 hours after the man published federal court records involving Midland County.Christino Rodriquez, who goes by "Nino America" online, alleges in a 26-page federal lawsuit that Johnson retaliated against him for criticizing local government by using his position to obtain confidential information and publishing it online.BABYLON BEE SUES NEW MEXICO OFFICIALS OVER LAW REQUIRING AI DISCLAIMERS ON POLITICAL SATIREAccording to the lawsuit, Johnson posted a 2015 arrest warrant on his personal Facebook page with the caption, "Convicted felon trying to be a player." The complaint alleges the charges connected to the warrant were later dismissed and Rodriquez was not convicted in the case.The filing also points to what was redacted — and what wasn’t.Rodriquez’s home address and telephone number appeared blacked out, while his Social Security and driver’s license numbers remained visible. The lawsuit argues the selective redactions support its allegation that the disclosure was intentional.James "Trey" Trainor, an attorney representing Rodriquez, told Fox News Digital the case goes beyond one Facebook post."The lawsuit is really about retaliation and abuse of power," Trainor said.
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What began as a controversial Facebook post has spiraled into a legal firestorm for a West Texas judge, who now faces a federal civil rights lawsuit and an unprecedented effort by his own district attorney to remove him from office.Midland County Judge Terry Johnson is accused of posting a political critic’s Social Security number, driver’s license number and date of birth on Facebook less than 24 hours after the man published federal court records involving Midland County.Christino Rodriquez, who goes by "Nino America" online, alleges in a 26-page federal lawsuit that Johnson retaliated against him for criticizing local government by using his position to obtain confidential information and publishing it online.BABYLON BEE SUES NEW MEXICO OFFICIALS OVER LAW REQUIRING AI DISCLAIMERS ON POLITICAL SATIREAccording to the lawsuit, Johnson posted a 2015 arrest warrant on his personal Facebook page with the caption, "Convicted felon trying to be a player." The complaint alleges the charges connected to the warrant were later dismissed and Rodriquez was not convicted in the case.The filing also points to what was redacted — and what wasn’t.Rodriquez’s home address and telephone number appeared blacked out, while his Social Security and driver’s license numbers remained visible. The lawsuit argues the selective redactions support its allegation that the disclosure was intentional.James "Trey" Trainor, an attorney representing Rodriquez, told Fox News Digital the case goes beyond one Facebook post."The lawsuit is really about retaliation and abuse of power," Trainor said. "It’s kind of secondarily about First Amendment rights and the ability of people to actually criticize government without having government being used as a weapon against them."Trainor said Rodriquez is active in the Midland community, attends public events and speaks out about local government."At the end of the day, he did that and he upset the county judge, and the county judge thought it was time to retaliate against him," Trainor alleged.Trainor said Johnson had an employee access a criminal justice information system to obtain information about Rodriquez.The federal complaint alleges Johnson obtained the unredacted warrant either through his own official access or through county personnel acting at his request or direction.Trainor said the disclosure has left Rodriquez and his wife worried about identity theft and where the information could end up.IS YOUR SOCIAL SECURITY NUMBER ON THE DARK WEB?"This is probably the highest form of doxxing that you could ever engage in by putting this type of personal information out there," Trainor said."We don’t know how many pictures were taken, how many screenshots were saved, all of those types of things," he added. "So we really don’t have an overall understanding yet of how broad the damage is."Trainor said his team has begun discussions with the Social Security Administration about potentially changing Rodriquez’s Social Security number.The lawsuit seeks compensatory and punitive damages and other relief, including lifetime identity-theft protection and credit monitoring.
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- What began as a controversial Facebook post has spiraled into a legal firestorm for a West Texas judge, who now faces a federal civil rights lawsuit and an unprecedented effort by his own district attorney to remove him from office.Midland County Judge Terry Johnson is accused of posting a political critic’s Social Security number, driver’s license number and date of birth on Facebook less than 24 hours after the man published federal court records involving Midland County.Christino Rodriquez, who goes by "Nino America" online, alleges in a 26-page federal lawsuit that Johnson retaliated against him for criticizing local government by using his position to obtain confidential information and publishing it online.BABYLON BEE SUES NEW MEXICO OFFICIALS OVER LAW REQUIRING AI DISCLAIMERS ON POLITICAL SATIREAccording to the lawsuit, Johnson posted a 2015 arrest warrant on his personal Facebook page with the caption, "Convicted felon trying to be a player." The complaint alleges the charges connected to the warrant were later dismissed and Rodriquez was not convicted in the case.The filing also points to what was redacted — and what wasn’t.Rodriquez’s home address and telephone number appeared blacked out, while his Social Security and driver’s license numbers remained visible. The lawsuit argues the selective redactions support its allegation that the disclosure was intentional.James "Trey" Trainor, an attorney representing Rodriquez, told Fox News Digital the case goes beyond one Facebook post."The lawsuit is really about retaliation and abuse of power," Trainor said.
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Texas judge accused of 'doxxing' political critic faces federal lawsuit, growing push to oust him from office
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