A Jewish real estate agent’s anti-harassment lawsuit against the owner of the racist Daily Stormer website hasn’t progressed at all, despite being filed nearly four months ago.

The reason for the stall, the plaintiff’s lawyers say, is that Daily Stormer publisher Andrew Anglin simply can’t be found. They’ve tried, but failed, to serve him papers at four different Ohio addresses.

Gersh ultimately hired lawyers from the Southern Poverty Law Center, who filed a case seeking to end the “tsunami of threats.” If it moves forward, it will be a test case in what the judicial system can do about online harassment.

“Andrew Anglin knew he had an online army primed to attack with the click of a mouse,” said Southern Poverty Law Center President Richard Cohen in a statement about the lawsuit.

Missing man

The SPLC hired process servers who visited four different Ohio addresses linked to Anglin, but they were unsuccessful in finding him.

The firm also sent papers to his known addresses through certified mail, but those were returned undeliverable, according to The New York Times, which reported on Anglin’s disappearing act on Sunday. The process service firm made 15 visits to seven addresses but was stymied. One process server said she believes Anglin barricaded himself inside one of the addresses.

Meanwhile, Anglin continued to raise funds and brag on the Daily Stormer. On April 27, he published an article with the headline: “SPLC is Suing Anglin! Donate Now to STOP THESE KIKES!” That article is attached as Exhibit C to a July court filing (PDF) in which Gersh’s lawyers explain their failed efforts to serve Anglin.

“He knows what he’s doing,” one of the process servers told the Times. “To avoid service, you’ve got to be a step ahead.”

Big hire

In June, Anglin retained Marc Randazza, a Las Vegas attorney who has a history of taking on high-profile and controversial First Amendment fights.

“Everybody deserves to have their constitutional rights defended,” Randazza told The Associated Press when he was hired.

“I am happy to announce that I have retained Marc Randazza, the most well-known First Amendment lawyer in the country, to represent me against the SPLC,” Anglin said the following day on the Daily Stormer.

According to the July filing, Gersh’s SPLC lawyers called Randazza’s law firm twice and also e-mailed Randazza twice, asking if he would accept service, but he didn’t respond.

Randazza, who didn’t respond to an e-mail seeking comment from Ars Technica, told the Times that Anglin “should be easy to find and that no one had looked hard enough.” He also denied that he was ignoring any calls or messages from the SPLC lawyer who attempted to contact him.

Asked whether Anglin was avoiding service, Randazza answered with questions: “Would you say that touchdowns are avoiding being scored in a shutout football game? Or would you say that the offense is not scoring them?”

Gersh’s lawyers have been granted an extension of deadlines in the case. Under the revised schedule, they have until September 15 to file proof of service on Anglin.

The lawsuit is far from Anglin’s only problem. His website has been mostly offline since a violent neo-Nazi march in Charlottesville, Virginia, which Anglin live-blogged. Google, GoDaddy, and CloudFlare have all refused to provide services to the website.

For more information, please visit arstechnica.com.