Newsbusters:
By Curtis Houck
On Wednesday, Washington state Superior Court Judge Brian McDonald granted Fox News’s motion to dismiss the farcical pipe-dream of a lawsuit by the far-left WASHLITE claiming First Amendment rights don’t apply to the cable network. Why? According to WASHLITE, their early coverage of the coronavirus pandemic was deadly irresponsible.
“Using a false portrayal of FOX News Channel’s commentary, WASHLITE attempted to silence a national news organization to settle a partisan grievance. This was not only wrong, but contemptuous of the foundation of free speech and we are both pleased the court dismissed this frivolous case and grateful to the First Amendment community that rallied to our side,” declared Fox News in a statement.
On the ruling’s last page, McDonald threw WASHLITE a bone in asserting the public should have “accurate information about the coronavirus and COVID-19,” but they were otherwise way off:
However, the means employed here, a CPA claim against a cable news channel, runs afoul of the protections of the First Amendment….This Court concludes that WASHLITE’s CPA claim against Fox is barred under the First Amendment. Fox’s Motion to Dismiss is GRANTED.
Whether it was their attempt to have the original judge assigned to the case thrown out or their citation of a Second Amendment case (even though this lawsuit involved the First Amendment), WASHLITE never had an actual chance.
washlite, a leisuretime activity of george soros/schwartz
I wonder if Fox was awarded costs? That’s the only way these lawsuits will stop or at least be reduced.