Opposing sides in the case of Reno mayor Hillary Schieve and the secret GPS tracker each got one last chance to convince a judge whether the man who paid for the spying should be unmasked.
On Monday, the last filing was submitted in response to a court adviser’s recommendation that John Doe’s name be revealed. Now Washoe County District Court Judge David Hardy must weigh the two sides’ arguments:
- Is John Doe’s identity protected under the First Amendment because he was engaged in political activity when legally hiring a private detective, or
- Is John Doe’s name essential to fairness for the lawsuit to proceed on whether Schieve’s privacy was violated?
Discovery Commissioner Wesley Ayres called John Doe’s arguments “ unpersuasive ” that disclosing his name would violate his First Amendment rights. The discovery commissioner’s job is to advise the court on disputes over what the parties in a lawsuit think should be shared with each other.
This case involves Schieve and former Washoe County Commissioner Vaughn Hartung as plaintiffs.