CHRISTIANSBURG -- The American Civil Liberties Union of Virginia filed a response Friday in Montgomery County Circuit Court on behalf of one of four women named as defendants in a civil lawsuit filed by developer Roger Woody on May 1.

Woody -- owner of Showcase Home Builders, a company that has built hundreds of town houses and single-family homes in the New River Valley -- is suing the four for more than $10 million relating to complaints posted on the Internet about a massive dirt pile on one of his properties at Cambria Street. Named as defendants are Terry Ellen Carter and Tacy Newell-Foutz, who operate a blog called ThinkChristiansburg.com, along with Meghan Dorsett and Carol Lindstrom, two women who say they have no connection to the blog. Lindstrom operates another blog, DepotDazed.com., which focuses on local issues.

Representing Carter, the Virginia ACLU's legal director Rebecca Glenberg submitted a "demurrer" to the court, a response that contests the legal sufficiency of Woody's complaint. Along with Jonathan Rogers, a cooperating attorney from Floyd County, Glenberg argued that Woody's claims are groundless and that the First Amendment protects Carter's right to criticize the dirt.

Carter, who took the document to the court Friday, expressed gratitude to the ACLU for assistance in what the organization has called a "classic SLAPP suit," meaning a Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation, which is intended to silence critics by burdening them with costs of a legal defense.

"As a result of doing what every citizen has a right to do -- exercising the right to free speech -- I've been hauled into court," Carter said. "I am very pleased that the American Civil Liberties Union has taken our case. Those key words, 'civil liberties,' should not be overlooked. Free speech and political speech are at issue here and must be defended."

The ACLU of Virginia's executive director, Kent Willis, said Woody's suit represents "someone with considerable means suing someone who complains in order to shut them up." Woody is one of the largest property owners in Montgomery County.

"Almost invariably," Willis noted, "the expense of defending oneself against such a suit, even when it is without merit, is so costly that the complainer gives in and becomes silent. ... It is disturbing to think that in the United States a business or an individual can stop someone from having an opinion of them."

In the demurrer, the lawyers ask that Woody's suit be dismissed, noting that "In a country that places paramount value on the freedom of speech, citizens should not have to fear multimillion dollar lawsuits as the price of voicing their opinions on matters of public concern."

Woody has accused the four women of injuring him by referring to the dirt pile, a topsoil stockpile, as "Mount Woody" and publishing a picture of the pile superimposed with the word "Woodyville." He said the defendants released photographs "to the local press ... to intentionally and maliciously discredit and embarrass" him.

Woody also claims he "has lost numerous contracts for the sale of town houses and other properties" as a result of harm to his reputation. He said in his suit that a "Think, Christiansburg" blog article falsely alleges that the dirt pile has "besmirched the landscape for years."

Woody's spokesman, Jim Wessel of Showcase Home Builders, told The Roanoke Times on Friday afternoon that the developer had no comment on the response filed in court.

Lindstrom and Dorsett, the women named in the suit who claim no knowledge of what Woody is talking about, have hired the law firm of LeClair Ryan to represent them in the matter. Lawyer James Cowan said he had written a letter to Woody's attorney, B.K. Cruey, asking that his clients' names be removed from the suit. Newell-Foutz said she is being represented by Guy Harbert of Roanoke's Gentry Locke Rakes & Moore. She said she expects Harbert to file a response denying all of Woody's claims.

A legal defense fund has been established in Dorsett's and Lindstrom's names at the National Bank of Blacksburg. Lindstrom said its funds will be used to help with the legal fees of all four defendants.

"Any additional funds will be used to help others who have similar issues," she said.