POSTED: 5:10 pm EST October 31, 2006
UPDATED: 6:47 pm EST October 31, 2006
John Laughon
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- Nearly two months after the family of a bedridden, brain-dead Jacksonville man named the city of Jacksonville, the sheriff's office, and the company that provides medical service to the jail as defendants accused of wrongdoing, lawyers for the city requested a gag order in the lawsuit.
The case dates back to 2005, when police said John Laughon attacked a female deputy while he was in custody, displaying superhuman strength.
Investigators said Laughon was injured while officers were subduing him. Laughon has had no brain activity since the incident took place.
He is currently in a persistent vegetative state, and doctors say there's little chance he'll recover. His mother Ginger Laughon knows her son may never be the same, but she said she wants to know why.
However, the city is trying to stop Laughon from speaking out about how her son became bedridden, asking the judge in the case to implement a gag order.
"Do they have the right to tell me that I cannot speak of my son? This is America. What happened to freedom of speech?" Laughon said.
She said she never leaves her son's side, and does not want to keep quiet about his condition.
"I hope that I am entitled to freedom of speech. I hope that I am able, when people ask me how everything is going, to answer honestly and not say to them, 'I'm sorry. I am not allowed to talk about him,'" Laughon said.
John Laughon
John Laughon
Attorney Sean Cronin said a recent motion filed by the city to silence both him and his client is simply unconstitutional.
"We want the truth and we want justice for what happened," Cronin said. "Mrs. Laughon has a First Amendment right in America to talk about what has happened to her son and what the government has done to her son."
In the motion, city attorneys state, "As a result of the comments made by Plaintiff's counsel and his clients in the news stories the fairness of the trial in the this matter is seriously threatened."
"I pray that they get no where with this order because it would be very hard for me to keep quiet. I would probably wind up in jail," Laughon said.
The Deputy General Council for the city did not immediately return Channel 4's phone calls concerning the case.
NOTE: Go to News 4 http://www.news4jax.com/news/10203906/detail.html and vote for FREE SPEECH! Next thing you know we will be standing in line to receive our government approved toilet paper.
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