Legal Commentary

Godfather Part IV: The Blogfather

By Ilya Somin

Alleged Mafia boss Thomas Gioeli has started his own blog from prison [HT: Instapundit, who claims that he himself is the true ?Blogfather?]:

Call him the blogging crime boss: Reputed Colombo kingpin Thomas (Tommy Shots) Gioeli has set up a behind-bars blog to portray himself as a good guy ? not a wiseguy ? and rant about everything from jail conditions to the way the FBI went after a 94-year-old mobster.

Prosecutors say Gioeli, 58, is trying to influence potential jurors through a blog called ?Alleged Mob Boss Tommy Gioeli?s Voice.?

The first posting vowed, ?It?s going to be Tommy?s voice; the voice of a generous, good humored, kind, compassionate, and loving husband, father, son, brother, uncle, and friend.?

Gioeli, awaiting trial for six murders, including the rubout of NYPD cop Ralph Dols, has no Internet access from the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn ? but he can email with family members who could post the blog items, a Bureau of Prisons spokeswoman said.

I actually predicted the phenomenon of blogging mobsters several years ago. On one of my Property final exams, which I loosely based on The Godfather, I included a hypothetical scenario where Fredo Corleone starts a blog called ?Life in the Mafia,? and then gets sued for cybersquatting by other members of the Corleone family.

No word yet on whether imprisoned New York mobsters are forbidden to play Dungeons & Dragons.

Full post as published by The Volokh Conspiracy on February 14, 2011 (boomark / email).