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Mark Steyn Ordered by Jury to Pay Former Penn State 'Climate Scientist' $1M in Defamation Case
Red State ^ | 02/08/2024 | Becca Lower

Posted on 02/08/2024 9:41:35 PM PST by SeekAndFind

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To: frank ballenger

Jurors are getting very benevolent with someone else’s money. Any one of them can do that to someone they just don’t like. It’s akin to destroying someone.. Who worked hard to eventually have some extra.. And a juror can take it all. A million is a lot of money!!!


21 posted on 02/09/2024 1:21:49 AM PST by frnewsjunkie
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To: SeekAndFind

The guys ability to make money is destroyed by what some skeptic says about him? The worth of his output can’t stand on its own? People now can’t have opinions? Don’t even try to tell me if the political poles were reversed here that the jury wouldn’t found as it has. I’m not buying anymore.


22 posted on 02/09/2024 2:39:58 AM PST by TalBlack (I We have a Christian duty and a patriotic duty. God help us.)
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To: All

You represent yourself for one of two reasons, (a) you can’t afford a good enough attorney, or (b) you know the system is biased and the verdict is fore-ordained so why bother paying an attorney?

I suspect it was (b) for Steyn. In any case, he seems to have done a good job in court. It’s not possible to force people to share your opinions, in a country where 4/5 of the population have swallowed the climate change kool-aid, nobody could have won that case, at least not in that venue.

Steyn should go to Russia and seek political asylum. Or maybe crowd source the million bucks, sure it wouldn’t take long to raise it.

I had a partial victory representing myself in a defamation lawsuit in Canada, I was unable to get costs but the action was dismissed. In my case I had stated a left wing blogger was a Taliban supporter for taking a sympathetic view of Omar Khadr. I felt that with a little help from co-counsel (another defendant was involved) to get documents up to standard, I was able to do the job adequately and the judge (no conservative) told us that she appreciated our work in formulating arguments.

It is difficult work, I wouldn’t do it unless you are willing to do a lot of research and spend the time consulting experts. But my reason was (a) not (b). I had no choice if I wanted to be at trial, and if I didn’t show up, my co-defendants would have automatically lost and I would have been nailed with a large bill too.

That was a second go-round for me too, in a more complex case with many defendants, we did not succeed but then we had zero expectation of success given the political dynamics at work (trying to attack political correctness in Ottawa, sort of like saying cheese is dangerous in Wisconsin, or Joe Biden is a doofus in Delaware).


23 posted on 02/09/2024 3:19:50 AM PST by Peter ODonnell (Prayers up for Jim Robinson and family ... an island of sanity in a sea of madness. )
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To: crazycat

Mann Sued Dr Ball in Canada and lost. I feel sorry for Mark. I love his writing and work.


24 posted on 02/09/2024 3:20:10 AM PST by carcraft (Pray for our Country.)
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To: crazycat
Well said.......a travesty indeed.....but worse, as it was expected.....we have very serious problems.

Yes, you do. What about this case? Crazy!

Jeff Clark: The Fight of His Life

25 posted on 02/09/2024 3:36:50 AM PST by ScaniaBoy (Part of the Right Wing Research & Attack Machine)
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To: nickcarraway
"I tried to follow the case as I could. The simple fact though is he lost. And though Mr. Steyn is very smart, people who represent themselves have a very poor track record. Do you really think he should have lost his case?"

And Mann receive $1 in compensatory damages which will cause the $1M punitive to be vastly reduced, possibly to the point where Mann will lose money.

There wasn't any 'winning' this case, his co-defendant compared Mann to Sandusky, and Mark re-attributed it, thus both overcame Sullivan.

Yet for Steyn to be able to ably pillory Mann in open court, to exponentiate Mann's humiliation with not just the facts but Mark's extraordinary displays of oratory, do you actually believe for one millisecond that a courthouse gun-for-hire would have accomplished that?

26 posted on 02/09/2024 3:45:05 AM PST by StAnDeliver (TrumpII)
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To: SeekAndFind

Another reason Trump is correct about the DC. It shoild be federalized. It is a nest of ignorant DemocRat droids and career Federal parasites who have no use for anyone but corruot DemocRats. They can’t be trusted with their own governance. I hope Steyn appeals this to SCOTUS.


27 posted on 02/09/2024 3:51:39 AM PST by ZULU (DUMP RONA ROMNEY MCDANIELS!!!)
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To: Peter ODonnell

I had a partial victory representing myself in a defamation lawsuit in Canada...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I recall the case well and thanks for mentioning it... God bless you for taking it on. Corruption in the courts knows no borders.


28 posted on 02/09/2024 3:57:25 AM PST by hecticskeptic
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To: SeekAndFind

The DC Swamp. You knew they would reach this verdict as soon as the DC Swamp was chosen as the venue. It is impossible to obtain a fair trial in that jurisdiction.


29 posted on 02/09/2024 4:01:15 AM PST by FLT-bird
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To: nickcarraway; A strike; SeekAndFind; montag813; ScaniaBoy

That’s crazy. He should have had an attorney….. Do you really think he should have lost his case?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Really? Having his own attorney would have made a difference? The idea that it would have made a difference reminds one of past lost elections where folks are ignoring the total fraud they witnessed and are instead spouting off stuff like “well, we did this wrong, we did that wrong, if only we had a better candidate…woulda/coulda/shoulda etc. etc.”. No, it was lost because it was rigged PERIOD and absolutely nothing would or could change that. Similarly, the verdict has nothing to do with “Steyn paying the price for the stupid Sandusky comments by the other defendant” that montag813 suggested. The comments weren’t stupid but it doesn’t matter one bit…. Yeah sure, let’s go barrelling down field one more time on Lucy holding that football…

Post 3 by Astrike says what is going on in the fewest words and frankly, there really is nothing else to say. This fact (which is simply recognition and acceptance that the tyrants have control) explains it perfectly and until that is incorporated as reality into one’s thinking, there is no moving ahead on anything. Post 8 by dadfly has an excellent example of cases similar to Mark’s and there are of course endless others. See the link about Jeff Clark in post 25 by ScaniaBoy.


30 posted on 02/09/2024 4:30:35 AM PST by hecticskeptic
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To: nickcarraway
And though Mr. Steyn is very smart, people who represent themselves have a very poor track record.

Simberg had an excellent attorney, Victoria Weatherford, and lost as well. Steyn just had more punitive damages. He paid attorneys for over ten years, and paid a lot of money and couldn't swing any more, especially when they were not shy for charging a lot for minor and sometimes shoddy work.
31 posted on 02/09/2024 5:33:04 AM PST by Dr. Sivana ("If you can’t say something nice . . . say the Rosary." [Red Badger])
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To: SeekAndFind

How can anyone who isn’t a corrupt, leftist ideologue get a “jury of his peers” in the cesspool that is DC?


32 posted on 02/09/2024 5:33:11 AM PST by Sicon ("All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others." - G. Orwell>)
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To: frnewsjunkie

>A million is a lot of money!!!<

Do you think Hunter’s lawyer, Kevin Morris, will loan Steyn the money without any paperwork or expectation of payback? I hear that’s okay to do these days.

EC


33 posted on 02/09/2024 5:36:16 AM PST by Ex-Con777
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To: Freest Republican

Good to know


34 posted on 02/09/2024 5:48:04 AM PST by SomeCallMeTim
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To: StAnDeliver

“his co-defendant compared Mann to Sandusky”

No. He used Sandusky as an ANALOGY. It is a bit like saying, “Biden is like Hitler in XXXXX”. It isn’t saying he IS Hitler, or that he does the exact same thing as Hitler, but that in some way there are similarities.

As I understand it, that is what happened here. They said “the Jerry Sandusky of climate science, except for instead of molesting children, he has molested and tortured data...”. So the ONLY thing they accused him of was torturing DATA. They did not in any way accuse him of being a child molester. It is COMMON for “scientists” to be accused of torturing data because so many DO torture the data. I read a lot of papers that should never have seen the light of day.

That doesn’t “defame” someone. It indicates strong disagreement. That is all.


35 posted on 02/09/2024 5:50:53 AM PST by Mr Rogers (We're a nation of feelings, not thoughts.)
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To: SeekAndFind

If I’ve followed the case correctly, a witness defined Mann’s data as BS and a it was shown Mann grossly overstated his perceived financial losses. Was this yet another case of being judged by persons ostensibly capable of being labeled ‘your peers’?


36 posted on 02/09/2024 5:58:31 AM PST by Made In The USA (Ellen Ate Dynamite Good Bye Ellen)
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To: montag813

Steyn paid the price for a trial held in Washington D.C. Do you think any Conservative will receive a fair trial there?


37 posted on 02/09/2024 6:30:01 AM PST by Bookshelf
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To: dadfly

“Mark’s opening and closing statements will rank with the finest oratory in civil trial history. really magnificent.”

Do you have a link for that? I didn’t watch the trial.


38 posted on 02/09/2024 7:18:37 AM PST by aquila48 (Do not let them make you "care" ! Guilting you is how they control you. )
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To: TalBlack

“The guys ability to make money is destroyed by what some skeptic says about him? The worth of his output can’t stand on its own?”

I know. Totally disgusting... And depressing, that this is what justice in America has become.


39 posted on 02/09/2024 7:23:30 AM PST by aquila48 (Do not let them make you "care" ! Guilting you is how they control you. )
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To: SeekAndFind

“Climate Scientist Michael Mann Wins Defamation Suit Against Mark Steyn and Rand Simberg”

https://reason.com/volokh/2024/02/09/climate-scientist-michael-mann-wins-defamation-suit-against-mark-steyn-and-rand-simberg/

From the article at above link:

“The punitive damages would seem to be the most vulnerable part of the judgment. Under existing Supreme Court precedent, excessive punitive damages violate Due Process. So, for example, in BMW of North America v. Gore, the Court held that a punitive damage award of $2 million was excessive given that the plaintiff had only been awarded $2,000 in compensatory damages. This 1000-to-1 ratio, the Court held, could not be justified even considering the extent to which the defendant had engaged in egregious conduct”


40 posted on 02/09/2024 8:55:29 AM PST by CFW (I will not comply!)
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