McAlester, Oklahoma (U.S.) District Attorney Jim Bob Miller (hand to G-d) decided he didn’t like what had been written about him on the McAlester Watercooler. The Watercooler’s anonymous users frequently critically discuss local politicians. You might expect Jim suck it up on the personal pride front and honor the First Amendment. Instead, he “filed a complaint.” Not a civil complaint, a criminal one. Criminal libel complaints don’t exist in the overwhelming majority of U.S. states. OK is one of only 16 that retain the laws on their books.

The police, whom one might reasonably assume were not unfamiliar with the DA, seemed to agree with Jim, that saying mean stuff was illegal, and, after an investigation, a subpoena was issued to site owner, Harold King.

The subpoena demands the identities of 35 local users of the site. Aside from the obvious breach of First Amendment protection, local critics have also pointed out that the subpoena did not contain information on who issued it, which can only be a judge or prosecutor, not a district attorney. (Miller denies responsibility for the document, claiming only to have filed the complaint as a public citizen.)

Oklahoma is a state with an iffy history when it comes to electronic free speech. The Tulsa World newspaper attempted, unsuccessfully, to sue a blogger for linking to the site in 2005, making itself a laughing stock. It remains to be seen if Jim Bob and McAlester join John Bair and the Tulsa World in the permanent pantheon of online boobery.

According to the Oklahoman:

Former state Sen. Gene Stipe, a frequent target of King’s Web site, filed a criminal libel complaint against King in 2005. Miller’s predecessor declined to file charges.

At that time, an official with the state agency that represents district attorneys said he’d never heard of a criminal libel report being filed with police, much less filed as a charge by a prosecutor.