Residents Sue Bloggers, Seek To Identify Online Commenters

A Hoboken couple has filed a defamation suit against a pair of city bloggers, claiming that libelous posts on their sites have caused emotional distress.

The suit by Hobokenites Lane Bajardi and Kim Cardinal, who are married, seeks more than $2 million in punitive damages from the bloggers and a string of "John Does."

It names Nancy Pincus, author of the political blog Grafix Avenger, and Roman Brice, editor of Mile Square View.

Pincus and Brice are supporters of the current administration. Bajardi has been a staunch critic of the mayor.

Many of the comments cited in the suit were posted on Hoboken Patch, as well as NJ.com’s forum and Pincus’ site, which is registered on Blogspot.

The suit, which was filed in Jersey City’s Hudson County Superior Court late last month, lists numerous comments as “defamatory and libelous.”

According to the suit, Pincus — who also serves as a member of the Zoning Board of Adjustment — posts “false and disparaging comments” on various sites.

The suit cites comments from Pincus, and claims she emailed Bajardi’s employer — CBS-owned radio station 1010 Wins — and alleged he had made anti-Semetic comments under an Internet handle, which the suit denies.

“Mr. Bajardi is not a political operative,” the complaint states. 

Brice, through his blog, has set up a PayPal account asking people to donate money to what he is calling the “Hoboken Free Speech Legal Defense Fund.” 

"With Augie Torres' widely read Political Insider column bluntly confirming in the present tense - "political operative," we are even more acutely interested in confirming who's financing this SLAPP (Strategic Litigations Against Public Participation) based on widely known alliances in Hoboken and Mr. Bajardi's prior two year unemployment," Brice said in a statement emailed to Patch on Saturday.

The suit states that the Bajardis will subpoena the websites for the identities of the 10 unnamed defendants.