Our Story

3 Years Ago, We Stood Together

In 2017, Dr. Richard Carrier is sued us for reporting  on his well-known allegations of misconduct. These allegations were widely reported on throughout the community, including by third-parties both critical and sympathetic to him who were not themselves defendants.

This lawsuit had all the hallmarks of a SLAPP suit -- a lawsuit filed to stifle legitimate criticism and commentary. The named defendants are Skepticon, The Orbit, and Freethought Blogs - as well as individuals Lauren Lane, the lead organizer of Skepticon; Stephanie Zvan, a blogger for The Orbit; PZ Myers, a blogger for Freethought Blogs; and Amy Frank-Skiba, who publicly posted her first-hand allegations against Carrier.

All the defendants were represented by the same attorney, First Amendment lawyer Marc Randazza. Randazza provided his services at a significant discount, but the bills have still added up. Plus, there are thousands of dollars in “costs” for the case that don’t include legal bills, and there is no way to discount those.

Thank you for your support of freedom of speech!

-Amy Frank-Skiba, Lauren Lane, PZ Myers, Stephanie Zvan

P.s. we put a bunch of cat photos on this website because this has been incredibly stressful and well, kittens are cute.