Free Republic

Peter McDonald, American Library Association [ALA] Councilor and Dean of Library Services at Fresno State, has publicly defamed American troops with known false misinformation, but you be the judge. In an open letter to the ALA Council, Mr. McDonald said: "Where's Mr. Kent's outrage on this travesty where, if we're talking library-related, the prisoners' Korans have been routinely desecrated by soldiers and where they have NO freedom to read?" ....

GENEVA - The top U.N. rights body on Thursday passed a resolution proposed by Islamic countries saying it is deeply concerned about the defamation of religions and urging governments to prohibit it. The European Union said the text was one-sided because it primarily focused on Islam. The U.N. Human Rights Council, which is dominated by Arab and other Muslim countries, adopted the resolution on a 21-10 vote over the opposition of Europe and Canada. EU countries, including France, Germany and Britain, voted against. Previously EU diplomats had said they wanted to stop the growing worldwide trend of using religious anti-defamation...

GENEVA (AP) - The top U.N. rights body on Thursday passed a resolution proposed by Islamic countries saying it is deeply concerned about the defamation of religions and urging governments to prohibit it. The European Union said the text was one-sided because it primarily focused on Islam. The U.N. Human Rights Council, which is dominated by Arab and other Muslim countries, adopted the resolution on a 21-10 vote over the opposition of Europe and Canada. EU countries, including France, Germany and Britain, voted against. Previously EU diplomats had said they wanted to stop the growing worldwide trend of using religious...

Lawyers for Rep. John P. Murtha will appeal a recent ruling advancing a defamation lawsuit brought against the Pennsylvania Democrat by a U.S. Marine under investigation for killing Iraqi civilians. Justice Department lawyers representing Murtha on Nov. 16 filed notice that they planned to appeal a federal district court judge’s Sept. 28 ruling allowing the lawsuit to proceed and ordering Murtha to give sworn testimony in the case. Marine Staff Sgt. Frank Wuterich sued Murtha in August 2006, accusing the 17-term congressman of defaming him during a news conference last year on the Nov. 19, 2005 killings of Iraqi civilians...

Islamo-Fascism Memory Hole by: Malcolm A. Kline, November 02, 2007 Critics of the Islamo-Fascism Awareness Week (IFAW) events that author and activist David Horowitz presented last month should have actually attended some of the IFAW lectures. They might have learned something, particularly from Nonie Darwish, a brave Muslim woman whose criticisms of Islamo-Fascism have put her life at risk. Instead, they sought to discredit the event. The most egregious act was probably the fake flyer proclaiming anti-Muslim bigotry on the part of the Young America’s Foundation (YAF) chapter at George Washington University (GWU) that sponsored the IFAW on campus. Stories...

WASHINGTON (AP) -- A federal judge refused Friday to dismiss a defamation case against Rep. John P. Murtha and ordered the Pennsylvania Democrat to give a sworn deposition in the case. A Marine Corps sergeant is suing the 18-term congressman for alleging ''cold-blooded murder and war crimes'' by unnamed soldiers in connection with the deaths of Iraqi civilians in the town of Haditha. The deaths became prominent in May 2006 when Murtha, who opposes the Iraq war, said at a Capitol Hill news conference that a Pentagon war crimes investigation will show Marines killed dozens of innocent Iraqi civilians in...

A federal judge has ordered Rep. Jack Murtha (D-Pa.) to testify in a defamation case related to the deaths of Iraqi civilians in the town of Haditha in 2005, according to the Associated Press.

A federal judge refused Friday to dismiss a defamation case against Rep. John P. Murtha and ordered the Pennsylvania Democrat to give a sworn deposition in the case. A Marine Corps sergeant accuses the 16-term congressman of falsely accusing him of "cold-blooded murder and war crimes" in connection with the deaths of Iraqi civilians. The Justice Department wanted the case dismissed because Murtha was acting in his official role as a lawmaker. Assistant U.S. Attorney John F. Henault said the comments were made as part of the debate over the war in Iraq. U.S. District Judge Rosemary M. Collyer said...

A service offering a complete "revenge package" in which people can destroy the financial status and relationships of their enemies at the click of a mouse is being offered over the Internet. For as little as $20 a month, customers of the confidentialaccess.com Web site can make the credit ratings of people they dislike plummet, and even have them suspected of fraud...

A mine company executive sued the state Democratic Party over a TV ad that he claims defamed him by quoting him as saying the deaths of 14 miners last year were statistically insignificant. Massey Energy Co. Chief Executive Don Blankenship filed the lawsuit against the West Virginia Democratic Party and party chairman Nick Casey on Friday in Kanawha County Circuit Court. Statements attributed to Blankenship in a Feb. 19, 2006, article in The Herald-Mail of Hagerstown, Md., were misrepresented in the party’s “Not For Sale” ad, he alleged in the lawsuit. A methane explosion at International Coal Group’s Sago Mine...

Democrat's claim of grand jury probe riles congressman An angry Brian Bilbray blasted Democratic challenger Francine Busby yesterday as “the poster child for unethical political activities” for making unsubstantiated allegations that he is under criminal investigation. During a live appearance on NBC 7/39, Busby said voters in the 50th Congressional District ask her two questions that “I can't answer but Mr. Bilbray can.” “One is, why are you being investigated by a grand jury – a criminal grand jury – and why won't you talk to the people in this district?” Bilbray, the Republican incumbent, testily replied he is the...

A Weston, Fla., woman who spoke out publicly against a Utah-based company affiliated with a controversial chain of boarding schools for troubled teens around the world has won an $11.3 million Internet defamation verdict. On Sept. 19, Susan Scheff and her Weston-based company, Parents Universal Resource Experts Inc., won the jury verdict in Broward Circuit Court against Carey Bock, a woman whom Scheff helped in getting Bock's two sons out of a school in Costa Rica. The judgment included $5 million in punitive damages. Scheff filed the suit in December 2003, alleging that Bock posted defamatory statements about her on...

Another acquaintance of Senator George Allen said Tuesday that she heard him use a racial slur in 1976, contradicting a statement he made Monday in an effort to tamp down similar accusations. Mr. Allen’s campaign manager, Dick Wadhams, called the account by the woman, Ellen G. Hawkins, “another false accusation.” Mr. Allen, a Virginia Republican whose re-election campaign has been knocked off balance by the accusations, said Monday that he did not remember ever using the term and that “it is absolutely false that that was ever part of my vocabulary.” Mrs. Hawkins, who described herself as a rural Virginia...

One of Virginia's best-known political analysts said Tuesday that he had never personally heard Sen. George Allen use racial epithets, but insisted claims by former Allen teammates and acquaintances are valid. Larry Sabato, director of the University of Virginia's Center for Politics, said in an e-mail to The Associated Press, "I didn't personally hear GFA (Allen's initials) say the n-word. ... Also in interviews with the AP and Salon.com late Sunday, [former teammate Ken] Shelton claimed that on a hunting trip to Louisa County in 1973 or 1974, Allen stuffed the severed head of a female deer into the oversized...

Elin Woods smiles as USA and European team wives prepare to travel to The Curragh racecourse for the Wives Race Day prior to the start of the 2006 Ryder Cup. STRAFFAN, Ireland – Tiger Woods was outraged Wednesday at an Irish magazine and a tabloid that linked photos of his wife to various pornography sites, and his agent was studying the merits of a lawsuit. “My wife, yes, she has been a model prior, and she did do some bikini photos,” Woods said. “But to link her to porn web sites and such is unacceptable, and I no not...

TORONTO -- Five years after 9-11, it's apparent that we all aren't getting along. And the political left is throwing plenty of mean punches. A case in point is that new Bush snuff movie, "Death of a President." Some might say that "snuff movie" is too strong a term -- but how else to describe a movie that clearly revels in the prospect of George W. Bush's being assassinated? Anyone who doubts that movies still have the power to stir up passions ought to come here, to the Toronto International Film Festival, which rates as the most important movie conclave...

MIAMI, June 30 (UPI) -- A lawyer has sued a Florida-based Web site claiming he was defamed on Don'tDateHimGirl.com. The site allows women to vent about ex-boyfriends and spouses and, presumably, to warn others about their exes' nasty habits. But Todd Hollis of Pittsburgh says his former girlfriend published false and malicious information about his health and sexual habits. "When you have to explain to someone that you don't have herpes or that you are not a dog or that these accusations are malicious and false it really bothers you," Hollis told the Miami Herald. "You feel awkward when you...

Man sues over Web site comments Fri Jun 30, 11:51 AM ET PITTSBURGH - A city attorney is suing the creator of a Web site that lets women dish dirt on men they claim have wronged them, saying they made defamatory statements about him. Attorney Todd J. Hollis sued because he contends two Pittsburgh-area women and other anonymous users posted items about him on http://www.dontdatehimgirl.com in which they claim he is unfaithful, among other things, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported Thursday. Hollis filed the suit Thursday in Allegheny County against Tasha C. Joseph of Miami, who created the site, which bills...

I’ve spent much of the past week trying to get a letter to the editor published in The New York Times in response to the recent Tom Friedman rant (subscription required) against GM (see “Hyperbole and Defamation at The New York Times,” June 1). I failed. This is my story. For those of you who haven’t read it already, Mr. Friedman spent 800 words on the Times op/ed page to accuse GM of supporting terrorists, buying votes in Congress and being a corporate “crack dealer” that posed a serious threat to America’s future. He suggested the nation would be better...

“Vietnam veterans will not be intimidated by John Kerry,” retired Air Force Colonel George “Bud” Day said in response to the Massachusetts Senator’s newly created legal expense trust fund to finance his court battles against a group of highly-decorated Vietnam War veterans. Col. Day added, “Why one of the wealthiest men in the Senate would expect others to pay his lawyers and use questionable Senate privileges against veterans is shameful.” Col. Day is chairman of the Vietnam Veterans Legacy Foundation (VVLF), a group of Vietnam combat veterans who sued Sen. Kerry for “conspiracy and defamation.” Day is the most decorated...

Mexico Offers Help in Exchange for Visas by Amanda B. CarpenterPosted Mar 27, 2006The Mexican government placed a full-page advertisement in major U.S. newspapers last week that said Mexican efforts to stop illegal emigration into the U.S. would be contingent on the United States' providing a "sufficient number of appropriate visas" to Mexican nationals who now enter the U.S. illegally. The ad was a summary of "Mexico and the Migration Phenomenon," a policy declaration adopted last February by Mexico’s Federal Congress. In the declaration, the Mexican government calls for a "bilateral medical insurance system" for Mexican workers in the U.S....

WASHINGTON (AP) The Supreme Court refused Monday to block a defamation lawsuit against The New York Times over columns that linked a former Army scientist to the 2001 anthrax killings. Authorities have never solved the mysterious mailing of anthrax-laced letters that killed five people and sickened 17 not long after the Sept. 11, 2001 terror attacks. Steven Hatfill, a physician and bioterrorism expert, was labeled a "person of interest" by then-Attorney General John Ashcroft, although he was never charged and has since sued Ashcroft and others. A federal judge had thrown out Hatfill's lawsuit against The New York Times over...

This thread is an update on Rall's attempt to sue Ann Coulter. Rall now says he does want to sue Coulter for a joke she made about him, but it's going to cost a lot of money. He previously asked for cash just for the filing. He now wants a whole lot more cash to pursue legal action. He's asking for donations, since (surprise, surprise) his lawyer won't work on a contingency basis. The strong of stomach can read the whole thing at http://www.tedrall.com/rants.html. He can't draw, he can't write, he has a thin skin, and now he's a shyster...

APPEAL AGAINST "POLISH DEATH" CAMPS Polish conservative daily 'Rzeczpospolita' is running an campaign against the 'Polish death camps' expression. Appeal of Mr. Grzegorz Gauden - editor-in-chief of the "Rzeczpospolita" daily - addressed to worldwide mass media Warsaw, 26th January 2004 Dear Sir, Dear Colleague, Acting as the Editor-in-Chief of the "Rzeczpospolita" daily, the most renowned opinion-forming Polish daily newspaper that has always focused on truth and the compliance with the ethical principles also in the sphere of journalism I have noticed with pain and grief that in many renowned newspapers all over the world a term "Polish concentration camps" appears...

FORMER Malaysian deputy premier Anwar Ibrahim has launched a lawsuit against one-time prime minister Mahathir Mohamad for accusing him of being a homosexual. "We have filed a defamation suit against Tun Mahathir today. Anwar has a very good case and we remain confident," said his counsel Sankara Nair. "We reiterate that our client is neither a homosexual nor a sodomiser." Mr Anwar said he had intended to "move on with my life" after being acquitted in 2004 of the sodomy charges which triggered his sacking and imprisonment in 1998. But Mr Mahathir remains "defiant in repeating his allegations. I am...

I assume most conservatives have not nor will see Brokeback Mountain. Same here, but there was a clip on Jay Leno last night that was utterly despicable. Not because of anything sexual, but for the way Heath Ledger (one of the two male leads) tried as hard as he could to imitate President Bush's facial expressions.If you have seen the film or the clip, I'm referring to the campfire scene. I have no idea where it is in the film or how many other 'campfire scenes' there are, but I'm guessing through context that this scene occurred after the two...

The NEA gave $65 million in its members' dues to left-liberal groups last year. If we told you that an organization gave away more than $65 million last year to Jesse Jackson's Rainbow PUSH Coalition, the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, Amnesty International, AIDS Walk Washington and dozens of other such advocacy groups, you'd probably assume we were describing a liberal philanthropy. In fact, those expenditures have all turned up on the financial disclosure report of the National Education Association, the country's largest teachers union. Under new federal rules pushed through by Secretary of Labor Elaine Chao, large unions...

<p>FALSE WITNESS How true are "facts" online?</p> <p>ACCORDING to Wikipedia, the online encyclopedia, John Seigenthaler Sr. is 78 years old and the former editor of The Tennessean in Nashville. But is that information, or anything else in Mr. Seigenthaler's biography, true?</p>

DOVER — The Delaware Supreme Court dismissed a Smyrna councilman's attempt to unmask an anonymous Internet poster Wednesday, reversing a lower court's decision. Smyrna Town Councilman Patrick J. Cahill and his wife Julia alleged in a September 2004 Superior Court suit that four anonymous posters to a Web log — or blog — defamed him by claiming he had an "obvious mental deterioration" and implying that he was homosexual. The Internet free speech case is the first decided by any Supreme Court, which could give it national importance, said the attorney representing one anonymous poster. "The Delaware Supreme Court recognized...

Oct 5, 2005 13:00 ET Former Vietnam POWs Sue John Kerry PHILADELPHIA, Oct. 5 -- Sen. John Kerry and a top DNC campaign official have been sued for conspiracy and defamation in Federal District Court in Philadelphia by the Vietnam Veterans Legacy Foundation (VVLF), which is led by a group of former Vietnam combat veterans, including several POWs, and the wife of a POW. The legal action comes just weeks after the group of highly decorated veterans, which includes a Medal of Honor recipient, was itself sued twice by Kerry campaign supporters who were once his fellow antiwar activists. All...

Filmmaker Sues Kerry, Campaign Aide Oct 05 3:48 PM US/Eastern By MARYCLAIRE DALE Associated Press Writer PHILADELPHIA A filmmaker has sued Sen. John Kerry and a one-time campaign aide, saying they defamed him as they sought to block the broadcast of an anti-Kerry documentary during the 2004 presidential election. The lawsuit, filed this week on behalf of producer Carlton Sherwood and a Vietnam veterans group, is the latest salvo in the battle over the documentary "Stolen Honor: Wounds That Never Heal." [snip] Sherwood's suit alleges that Kerry directed the DNC to issue a statement that falsely said the film was...

John O’Neill Houston, Texas Dear Friend, Last year, when my fellow Swift Boat veterans and I spoke out about John Kerry, you rallied to our side. We will never forget your faith in our cause and your belief in our honesty. It made all the difference. Together we made history. Like most of you, I believed our mission was over. We could all move on with our lives, return to our families and homes secure in the knowledge we had done the right thing for America, and for our children’s future. Regrettably, that has not been the case for a...

Carlton Sherwood, Red, White and Blue Productions, Inc. and Vietnam Veterans Legacy Foundation v. John F. Kerry and Anthony T. PodestaOn October 3, 2005, Carlton Sherwood, Red, White and Blue, and the VVLF filed suit in Federal court against Sen. John Kerry and Anthony Podesta for events relating to the suppression of the documentary film Stolen Honor. Legal Documents:10/03/2005: Defamation, Defamation/Business Disparagement, Intentional and/or Negligent Interference with Prospective and Existing Contractual Relations, and Civil Conspiracy Complaint, filed in Eastern District Court of Pennsylvania [PDF: 818K]

Court hears Del. blog case; Smyrna's Cahill claims libel on Web site postings By Drew Volturo, Delaware State News DOVER - The Delaware Supreme Court waded chest-deep Wednesday into an Internet free-speech case, seeking to strike a balance between one person's right to free speech against another's claims of libel. Smyrna Town Councilman Patrick J. Cahill and his wife Julie filed the suit last year in Superior Court alleging they were defamed by four anonymous posters to a community issues Web log - or blog - on the Internet. The expletive-laced postings lambasted the councilman, claiming he had an "obvious...

High court to hear blog suit; Smyrna councilman claims anonymous defamation By Drew Volturo, Delaware State News DOVER — A lawsuit seeking to identify anonymous posters to an Internet Web log will be decided in the Delaware Supreme Court, a case some say could set precedents for free speech online. The case, filed last year by Smyrna Town Councilman Patrick J. Cahill and his wife Julia, alleges that four anonymous posters to a community issues blog "defamed" the councilman and his wife in late 2004. Blogs are electronic public forums that allow residents to post their ideas, opinions and comments...

Oriana Fallaci is 75 years old. The renowned Italian journalist lives in hiding because of death threats she received after the publication in 2001 of her book The Rage and the Pride. She is dying of cancer. And now she is going to go on trial for “defaming Islam.”

A French Court finds a pillar of the French media. Le Monde, guilty of defamation against Israel and the Jewish people. The Wall Street Journal reports: A French court last week found three writers for Le Monde, as well as the newspaper's publisher, guilty of "racist defamation" against Israel and the Jewish people. In a groundbreaking decision, the Versailles court of appeal ruled that a comment piece published in Le Monde in 2002, "Israel-Palestine: The Cancer," had whipped up anti-Semitic opinion. The writers of the article, Edgar Morin (a well-known sociologist), Danièle Sallenave (a senior lecturer at Nanterre University) and...

Radio talk show host Dan Caplis on Wednesday filed a defamation lawsuit against a Longmont city employee who has emerged as a vocal supporter of embattled University of Colorado professor Ward Churchill. Caplis, who co-hosts an afternoon program on KHOW-AM with fellow attorney Craig Silverman, sued Glenn Spagnuolo, 34, in Arapahoe District Court. Spagnuolo made the comments Tuesday night during a speech supporting Churchill at a campus rally in Boulder, and they were broadcast Wednesday on the Peter Boyles Show, another KHOW program, Caplis said. He declined to reveal the comments he cited in his lawsuit, saying it was filed...

CHICAGO (AP) - Two men claim photographs in the Chicago Tribune misidentified them as high-ranking mobsters, prompting one of the men Wednesday to sue the newspaper. Retired businessman Frank Calabrese is suing the Tribune Co. for more than $1 million in damages, claiming defamation. His picture ran Tuesday as part of a package about the indictment of several mobsters - including one named Frank Calabrese Sr. - on charges of plotting at least 18 murders. "I have voice mails from people calling me who were my customers asking me what's happening. Is that you?" Calabrese, 76, was quoted as saying...

UN to monitor defamation of Islam Ehtasham Khan in Geneva | April 13, 2005 00:05 IST The United Nations' Commission on Human Rights on Tuesday adopted a resolution to monitor defamation of religions, particularly Islam. The votingªon the resolution took place at the ongoing 61st session of the UNCHR in Geneva, Switzerland. Thirty-oneªcountries voted in favour of the resolution, 16 voted against and five abstained from voting. United States, United Kingdom and Israel voted in the negative. Russia and China voted in favour of the resolution. India was among those who abstained. The resolution was pushed forward by Pakistan on...

I am convinced God uses trials like the Terri Schiavo case to test men. Pinellas County Circuit Court Judge George Greer was tested – and found wanting. He had seven years to consider this case and got it wrong every time. I don't know Greer personally, but I know many people like him. They go to church on Sunday and then between Monday and Friday lead lives with no seeming connection to what they hear preached in the pulpit, what they read in the Bible, what they claim to believe of the Christian faith. This may be the biggest single...

New York Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-NY) has long been rumored as desperately seeking the democratic nomination for president in 2008. And while many political observers fully expect the power hungry former First Lady to hit the campaign trail within only a few months of being re-elected as a US Senator in 2006, US News & World report claims to have a confirmation of sorts. From USNews.Com's Washington Whispers: Hillary's in… You don't have to take it from us about Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton 's desire to run for president. Her brothers, Hugh and Tony Rodham, say it's true. Friends...

The New Paper - 08 Jan 2005 Pet shop sues dead dog's owner over Net posting By Arul John tnp@sph.com.sg COURT recently handled an unusual case - two people embroiled in a fight over a dead puppy. The fight erupted after the 3-month-old puppy, a Jack Russell terrier, died soon after it was bought from a pet shop. The disappointed pet owner posted an Internet message to say the shop knowingly sold him a sick puppy. The angry shop owner, a woman, sued the buyer for defamation. The case, believed to be the first of its kind here, was settled...

3 Dovalinas sue Times over taxpayer's comment Times Staff Reports The city manager, police chief and Laredo Community College president have filed suit against the Laredo Morning Times, claiming they were defamed in a June 13 article about higher property appraisals. Larry Dovalina, Agustin Dovalina III and Ramon Dovalina, respectively, also included as defendants: Tricia Cortez, the staff reporter who wrote the article; and businessman Patricio Canavati, owner of Quality Motors, who was quoted in the story. The suit, filed by Julio Garcia Sr., alleges that one of Canavati's comments "meant, and was intended to mean, that the plaintiffs were...

Former Congressman's Defamation Suit Against Columnist Goes Forward Mark Hamblett New York Law Journal 04-28-2004 A federal judge has refused to dismiss a slander suit brought by former California Congressman Gary Condit for statements made by columnist Dominick Dunne about the disappearance and death of Chandra Levy. Southern District of New York Judge Peter K. Leisure said Tuesday that Condit has asserted enough facts to survive dismissal, based on comments Dunne made about the Levy case on three national talk shows and at dinner parties where he regaled guests with rumors concerning the congressman. "This action brings the Court to...

<p>PHILADELPHIA (AP) -- A business was defamed when The New York Times used the pharmaceutical company's Web site to illustrate a story on illegal conduct, but the case doesn't warrant financial damages, a federal jury ruled.</p> <p>Franklin Prescriptions Co. said it was the victim of "defamation by implication" when the Times used a portion of its Web site to illustrate an Oct. 25, 2000, story headlined "A Web Bazaar Turns Into a Pharmaceutical Free-for-All."</p>

City to retract release calling Free Republic a 'hate group.' Fresno will pay $60,000 to conservative online forum Free Republic and retract a news release that called the organization a "hate group," according to a settlement agreement released Monday. Free Republic founder Jim Robinson, who lives in Fresno, said he wouldn't have filed the suit if the city had acknowledged its error. "I think it's unfortunate the city did not retract and apologize immediately after they knew they were in the wrong," Robinson said. City Attorney Hilda Cantu Montoy said the lawsuit was settled to "avoid the expense and burden...

<p>December 30, 2003 -- LOS ANGELES - Santa Barbara County authorities yesterday tore into Michael Jackson's stunning allegations of police brutality by the cops who busted him last month. The self-proclaimed King of Pop and accused child molester told "60 Minutes," in an interview aired Sunday, that sheriff's deputies roughed him up and degraded him during his Nov. 20 arrest.</p>

<p>The Charles Cullen case is spurring legislation, in both Washington and Trenton, to protect employers who give out honest, though negative, job references.</p> <p>New Jersey's two senators as well as several Assembly members in Trenton said they are moving forward with efforts to protect employers who say previous employees were fired, or performed poorly on the job.</p>

DES MOINES (AP) -- A former employee of Taco Bell has filed a lawsuit claiming his boss defamed him and humiliated him in front of a witness. James A. Egenberger, 22, filed a lawsuit in Polk County District Court against Taco Bell seeking damages for personal humiliation, embarrassment and emotion distress arising out of his September 2002 firing from a Taco Bell in West Des Moines. Court records show that store manager Randy Vinzant accused of Egenberger of being a thief in front of other employees and customers. Vinzant was later found to be responsible for $2,500 in store receipts...