Federal Judge Tosses Covington Student’s Defamation Case Against Wash Post – IOTW Report

Federal Judge Tosses Covington Student’s Defamation Case Against Wash Post

A Carter era appointee, Senior United States District Judge For the Eastern District of Kentucky, William O. Bertelsman, dismissed the $250 million defamation lawsuit filed by the family of Covington student Nick Sandmann against the Washington Post. At issue was the mis-characterization of the then 16-year-old Sandmann that he had ” instigated the confrontation and participated in “racist taunts” against the elderly man, fueling a social-media uproar” following the “March For Life” this last January.

Bertelsman ruled that the paper’s opinion was protected free speech and that statements made by Nathan Phillips at the time may have been inaccurate, but was also opinion protected by the 1st Amendment. More

18 Comments on Federal Judge Tosses Covington Student’s Defamation Case Against Wash Post

  1. Yes, opinion is protected, but the WAPO also reported what it took to be facts. The facts were untrue and defamatory, and NOT protected from libel judgment.

    BTW, the suit demanded $250,000,000, not a measly $25,000,000.

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  2. Opinion is one thing. Passing it off as front page news is something else.

    Besides, when does opinion get to be based on a lie and is very harmful to the person? So newspapers can do whatever they want with impunity? Didn’t Carrol Burnett’s case against The National Enquirer (I think it was) say otherwise?

    I was told a story years ago. A deputy arrest somebody for disturbing the peace after that person had used vulgarity towards the deputy. The judge dismissed the case on First Amendment grounds. The judge said it was protected free speech.

    As the deputy left the court room, he stopped, turned, and flipped off the judge. The judge got very irate and asked the deputy what he was doing.

    The deputy replied, “Protected free speech.”

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  3. Liberals and their spawn can NEVER be trusted! At best, they can be ignored, if possible. More desirably, they can be defrocked and hounded from underserved office. But it will take resolve to make the bastards live by the rules they impose on others.

    Lifetime appointments to any public office are rich fertilizer for abuse of the public (and the Constitution) by those so inclined. Elimination of that outrage is just another of the many changes that need to be made if the Nation is to survive. And Chief Justice Roberts needs some training in acknowledging reality…

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  4. Rename. Refile. Go again after some judge-shopping. Make them bleed out all their “reporter” salary money to lawyers instead.

    …it’s what THEY do, so why not hoist them on their own petard…

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  5. Well okay. With that ruling there should be no more defamation, libel or slander cases allowed.
    Hey gossip papers, magazines and web sites, say what you want about any celebrity! Make it about this judge then let him try to sue you.

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  6. They can’t get their way through elections so the left cripples presidential directives through leftist activist judges.
    This has gotten way out of hand when the nations CEO can’t get anything substantial done because of some obscure judges.

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  7. So, can “we” exercise our 1st Amendment rights by talking about this goat-raping pedophile appointed by the SECOND WORSE PRESIDENT in our history (last part not conjecture)? I heard it from a credible source – which I will NOT name (1st Amendment, after all).

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  8. One of the few mistakes the brilliant founding fathers made was in giving life time tenure to judges. Human beings are far too flawed for that kind of power!

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