I am not doing it to be harrassing in nature, but I feel everyone has the right to be informed. Particularily if the friends he has who do not know unwittingly allow him to be alone around their children (he was convicted of agg. sexual assault against a 1 year-old). If it makes any difference, I intend to inform all of the people he has associated with his account on a social networking website.
I just wish to restate that I am genuinely doing this out of fear of what he may be capable of in the future. Thank you for your time and help!
Thanks to everyone for their information. Particularily Mr. Dyer; you were very helpful though I find the reality of your words very unfortunate. I just wish more could be done to bring dangerous individuals in to light in situations such as these.
In other states besides Texas, doing what you propose could absolutely, positively expose you to massive civil liability under one or more of the new varieties of "invasion of privacy" torts. Truth isn't a defense to such claims in those states, and indeed, the whole point of creating them was to expand protections beyond those provided by traditional defamation law.
The same motive that you believe shows your pure intentions -- and that you're trumpeting here, and I assume will trumpet again on the website -- will be easily re-cast as evidence of malice directed specifically to this individual, whose lawyers will certainly argue that he's "paid his dues," that he's already been "outed" by public records, and that you're just engaged in malicious piling on out of spite or unreasonable fear. I'm not saying you're insincere or even wrong; I'm just saying that what YOU'RE saying can very easily be re-characterized as something quite different than you intended, and with potentially disastrous results for you.
Texas hasn't been as welcoming to such new types of claims as other states. But that's subject to change and, as has already been pointed out, you're very likely to be sued -- and subjected to a lot of aggravation and unavoidable, unrecoverable expense -- even if you win.
The standard Texas homeowners' policy includes coverage for defamation, which might provide you with a lawyer and some protection up to your policy limits. But if, for example, you publish this on a website, and your website accepts donations or advertising, then your insurer may well decide that you were engaged in a home business that's excluded from coverage. Even if they don't deny or reserve rights on coverage, they're not going to be enthusiastic about renewing your policy next year at the same rates.
I think this is a proposition that is fraught with great peril. I think the odds of you getting sued are very nearly 100%. If you're determined to proceed anyway, go ahead and get a lawyer NOW to help advise you, and to keep you on the edge of the cliff instead of plunging over it through misjudgment.
Remember that the reason that PUBLIC authorities create and publish lists of sex offenders is because that's a proper function of government. If you think more needs to be done, consider instead asking your state representative or state senator to consider laws through which the state would do a better job of warning citizens. That's IT'S job, not yours as an individual citizen. There is, in fact, a delicate balance to be struck between warning people based on past acts, and giving offenders who've served their sentences a chance to rehabilitate their lives in some sort of dignity and peace. With due respect, it's not up to individual citizens to strike that balance -- it's for the legislature. So go with that -- use it, and save yourself from the risks of what could turn into a very serious lawsuit.
The information is public, so you won't be breaking any secrecy laws. But if he decides to sue you for slander per se, the mere fact that what you say is true may not be sufficient defense. And even if it is, you will be out significant attorneys fees.
The information may not even be relevant to many of his social networking friends.
Why aren't you getting a list of all registered sex offenders in your area and publishing that list? If you are focusing your efforts on one particular person, you may not be as in the clear as your rationalizations suggest.
Your best bet in your quest to save the world, is to get a link to a list of registered sex offenders in the zip code and post that link on the social networking site.
I don't think that you would be violating any privacy laws because the information is public. I also don't think that you can be sued for defamation because defamation involves FALSE statements of fact, and the information you are spreading is true. Harassment in a more questionable issue, and it really depends on the specific way you go about informing people. As mentioned above, the fact that you are specifically targeting one individual and warning people with whom you have no association of this particular man's past, makes your conduct slightly questionable.
Disclaimer: This answer does not constitute legal advice. I am admitted in the state of California only and make no attempt to opine on matters of law that are not relevant to that state. This advice is based on general principles of law that may or may not relate to your specific situation. You should not rely on this advice alone and nothing in these communications creates an attorney client relationship.
http://www.johnphillipslaw.com
http://www.thecaliforniainjuryblog.com
By the way, even your anonymously posted question here could come back to bite you. If you're asked in pretrial discovery with whom you've discussed this before you did it, and you answer truthfully, you're going to have to point them to this post. (.com also keeps track of IP addresses, of course, and could be forced to reveal them if subpoenaed, so your anonymity may be far from bullet-proof.) If you proceed even in the face of warnings -- indeed, the very fact that you obviously KNEW you were approaching some border of permissible conduct, else would wouldn't have asked before "taking the law into your own hands" -- then your opponents' lawyers will be able to use that to make you look much worse as they're arguing that your real motivation is malice. I'm not saying they're right, I'm saying you're subject to that risk whether your motivation is or isn't pure and admirable.
I meant to write, "else you wouldn't have asked before 'taking the law into your own hands.'"
Last point: I'm assuming, as have the other lawyers who've answered, that you're talking about someone who has a final conviction, no longer subject to appeal, and who's already on a state-sponsored list of convicted sex offenders. If this is someone who's merely been charged, or the charges are still pending or subject to being reversed on appeal, then your risks would be multiplied many hundredfold even under existing Texas defamation law.
Seriously, if you're going to make this into a crusade, hire a lawyer NOW. Don't wait. He or she can at least help you reduce your risks without much or maybe any dilution of your intended message.
