Posted on 11/01/2019 8:09:05 AM PDT by Coronal
A federal judge on Thursday tossed the libel lawsuit Joe Arpaio, the former sheriff in Maricopa County, Arizona, had filed against CNN, Rolling Stone and the Huffington Post, ruling that even though they made errors, the news organizations didn’t do it with malice.
Judge Royce C. Lamberth did deliver a spanking to Huffington Post and Rolling Stone, saying they published stories on Mr. Arpaio that were “not substantially true.” CNN’s piece, while making an error, was on the whole accurate, the judge found.
Mr. Arpaio sued after the news organizations called him a felon or, in the case of Huffington Post, said he had been sent to prison.
In fact, Mr. Arpaio was convicted of misdemeanor contempt of court, not a felony, and he earned a pardon from President Trump before he even filed an appeal, much less served time behind bars.
All three news organizations claimed their reports were still substantially true, despite the errors.
Judge Lamberth said that was true in the case of CNN. Although host Chris Cuomo labeled Mr. Arpaio a felon, the actual story he was introducing correctly identified his conviction as a misdemeanor. And Mr. Cuomo quickly explained on air that he got it wrong.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtontimes.com ...
A federal judge is a mind reader to know they didn’t do it with malice given their anti-conservative bias they exhibit every day.
A felon is someone who has committed a felony. Is there a name for someone who has committed a misdemeanor?
Adding a requirement for “intent” was a major blow to the rights of people being libeled by major “news” organizations. Basically, any MSM outlet can defend itself by declaring that it had no malice in intentionally publishing lies. It’s ridiculous.
I would appeal. It is disgusting what they did to him.
I’ll take the side of cnn here. They didn’t do it with malice. Since they lie constantly they simply don’t know the difference between fact and fiction.
Given that he’s being represented by Larry Klayman, I would say that his odds are not good.
Might as well sue the sexy weather babe on TV for a mis-prediction that spoiled your garden party.
Lawyers and judges (also lawyers) side with D’rats and proggies — they that twist, complicate and challenge laws to keep lawyers in the money.
He needs to get the woman that’s representing Flynn
Klayman did a lot of good things in the past, but i’m not sure of his skills in the courtroom.
Ah... the old Absence of Malice argument. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZSl7GYVn4Kc
>>A felon is someone who has committed a felony. Is there a name for someone who has committed a misdemeanor?<<
They’re called misdemeanies. /jk
The quality of a government will never exceed the quality of the press. We’re toast.
I think the “Project Veritas” exposure of CNN should be brought up in an appeal.
“I’ll take the side of cnn here. They didn’t do it with malice. Since they lie constantly they simply don’t know the difference between fact and fiction.”
Believe me, they do it with intent!
HAPLESS Larry Klayman!!Thank GOD Tom Fitton took over Judicial Watch!!
The reason that the 0bama administration prosecuted Arpaio was precisely to provide "news" organizations with a weapon to libel and slander Arpaio.
Lamberth, being a good Swamp rat, knows this.
It's the same reason that James O'Keefe and Dinesh D'Souza were prosecuted - so they could be smeared in the Media and on social media with impunity.
The Federal judiciary may be hopelessly corrupted.
No doubt. Their people are programmed to lie.
I agree. Larry Klayman makes major mistakes that seem like technicalities.
Thank your stars you live in the USA where sanity reigns as far as libel suits. In the English world (Canada, Australia, UK) libel laws are used by lawyers and politicians to shut people up. The bar is a lot lower and your statement can be purely subjective “Joe is a brown shirt” and you can lose a defamation suit against you.
He did not lose his lawsuit! A biased, prejudiced judge threw it out. This judge does not need evidence to decide a trial, he can do it beforehand because he is an all knowing Democrat (don’t know that but willing to bet). Need to appeal
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