The mystery client who hired a detective secretly track down the mayor of Reno with a GPS device is trying to persuade the Nevada Supreme Court that he has a First Amendment right to remain anonymous, a protected privilege he says is a cornerstone of democracy and part of the “business of politics”.
The high court allowed lawyers representing “John Doe” to file the latest brief in the case – with his real name sealed – last week to keep his identity secret, at least for now.
Chief Justice Lidia Stiglich set additional filing deadlines in July as justices consider an appeal the detective filed last month to overturn a Washoe County judge’s order to name the person who hired him to watch. Reno Mayor Hillary Schieve and a county commissioner before the November election.
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John Doe’s attorneys said the US Supreme Court “has repeatedly held that the First Amendment protects anonymous political activity.”
“For better or worse … the use of private investigators to conduct investigations of elected officials and/or candidates is just politics as usual,” they wrote in the June 1 filing.
Schieve filed a civil suit in December seeking damages from private investigator David McNeely for a violation of her privacy. Schieve, who filed the lawsuit in Washoe County’s Second Judicial District Court as a private citizen, was elected in November to her third term as mayor, a position she has held since 2014.
The mayor said an interview with The Nevada Independent that a mechanic found the tracking device about two weeks before the election. She took it to the police in neighboring Sparks, and they were able to determine that McNeely had bought it.
Former Washoe County Commissioner Vaugn Hartung joined the lawsuit in February, alleging a GPS monitor was also secretly attached to his vehicle to track his movements.
Placing the devices in cars was not illegal because no Nevada law specifically prohibited the practice at the time. But the Legislature passed and Gov. Joe Lombardo signed last week a ban on placing GPS trackers on vehicles with the exception of law enforcement officers with warrants and, in some cases, certain creditors.
McNeely’s attorneys said in last month’s appeal to the state’s high court that releasing a client’s name would violate the long-accepted and expected confidentiality of an “investigator relationship private-client”.
Attorneys for John Doe joined the appeal last week, arguing that the First Amendment protects John Doe’s right to anonymously investigate elected officials to help uncover misconduct or embezzlement.
“Anonymous pamphlets, pamphlets, and even books have played an important role in human progress. Persecuted groups and sects have occasionally throughout history been able to criticize oppressive practices and laws anonymously or not at all.” , the letter states. filed by Las Vegas attorneys Alina Shell and Jeffrey Barr.
“Even the Federalist Papers, written in favor of the adoption of our Constitution, were published under fictitious names,” they said.
They said that without the assurance of confidentiality, Doe would not have hired the detective to investigate any alleged misconduct by politicians. They previously said they had received information suggesting the officials may have been involved in some type of wrongdoing, but have not provided further details.
The archive says that private investigation of elected officials and candidates “has and probably always will be part of American politics.”
The late Sen. Edward Kennedy hired a private investigator while seeking re-election in 1994 to dig up damaging information about rival Mitt Romney in Massachusetts, he said. American journalist James Callendar remained anonymous as he revealed that President Thomas Jefferson had fathered children with Sally Hemings, one of his slaves, he added.
In Nevada, the Culinary Union and the Las Vegas Police Protective Association hired a detective to monitor the movements of Clark County Commissioner Lynette Boggs-McDonald in 2006 to prove she was living outside her commission district, said the lawyers.
They said in previous filings in Washoe District Court that Doe had not broken any laws or released information collected on his behalf and never instructed McNeely to place GPS trackers on the vehicles.
The tracking device was in Schieve’s vehicle for several weeks and in Hartung’s vehicle for several months, according to his lawsuit. Schieve said McNeely entered his property to install the device.
Hartung also won re-election, but later resigned to become chairman of the Nevada Transportation Commission.
Judge David Hardy said in his ruling on May 4 that using a GPS tracking device to monitor a person’s movements could be “a criminal invasion of privacy”.
Schieve and Hartung weren’t the only Nevada politicians spied on in 2022. When Mariluz Garcia ran for a seat on the Washoe County Board of Commissioners in 2022, was investigated by two private detectives, KUNR Public Radio reported.
