All of those comments were purged by the officer who administered that page. Only one of them, however, resulted in criminal charges.Thomas Smith was arrested and charged with "disorderly conduct" and "unlawful use of a computerized communication system" in a fashion that "tended to cause a disturbance." Following a brief and perfunctory trial in which Smith's written comments were the only "evidence" used against him, the 23-year-old was convicted and sentenced to a year of probation and 25 hours of "community service."

Smith's conviction was overturned roughly a year later by the Wisconsin Court of Appeals. This gave rise to the inevitable civil rights lawsuit, which which last week produced a $35,000 settlement underwritten by the productive people sentenced to reside within Arena's tax jurisdiction.