Jackson Jambalaya

It would also be incentive for them to stop spreading unsubstantiated bullshit or using copyrighted material without permission. Which I think would be a move in the right direction. A lot of people are getting their information from the internet and if bloggers want to participate in the media they need to held accountable for the public claims they make.

Now was that directed at moi?

Yada, yada, yada HeavyB.

Rudy Warnock has sued an unknown blogger or bloggers in Madison County over posting pictures of him at the Playboy Mansion that, as I understand it, he had posted first on his MySpace page. Poor Rudy.

LOL... nooo. Just in general. I didn't even know your blog existed until this week.

We're losing our free speech. Thanks conservatives.

How is it the fault of the conservatives?

If anything its groups like the Gay lobby, the NAACP, and the feminists that want to classify speech they disagree with as hate speech under hate crimes law.

Bush did it. Now then, we got that out of the way. Feel better? And it makes doing that still makes it no more the truth than blaming him for kudzu, poison ivy and 3.2 beer.

It's not. I'm just trying to cause trouble. But, I do feel as if the conservatives want to get in our business too often. I guess I consider myself a Libertarian after being a Republican for so long. As I tell my friends, I didn't leave the Republican party, they left me. The days seem to be gone when democrats and republicans got along and worked together.

KF, don't leave the UN out of that list.

I just don't believe in censorship unless it causes physical harm, etc. That being said, I hate that www.redstate.com blog as linked on this site. But, I'll just choose not to read it.

KF, my understanding is that once you become a " public figure", you have very little protection in the law against libel/slander. Also, you are protected if you " believe" something to be true and it isn't so wording for bloggers may matter..." I think", " I feel", " I heard".
Aren't most of these lawsuits about Internet bullying?
The idea a politician or company could use superior resources to frighten or bankrupt critics is very scary indeed. Judges have to power to throw out such suits, but when you elect judges, they fear the consequences of exercising that power.
Also, how much protection is a screen name?

I don't think Warnock intends to win the suit for damages, he just wants to find out who's doing this and has the money to do it.

Getting it with these lawsuits is a risk you take in blogging. Some of the things that have appeared on other blogs would never make it here because they are false or libelous. Some bloggers have told me they are protected and one day they are going to find out otherwise.

Anon 8:07. I think the same thing but being a public figure hasn't stopped people from suing bloggers. Doesn't Perez Hilton get sued all the time? I don't read his stupid blog but he only writes about public figures.

For one thing, a threat to sue on the part of a public figure very rarely turns into an actual lawsuit. One party or the other will back down--either the defendant will shut up or the plaintiff will be shown up by the evidence behind whatever was said.

That said, there is a higher standard in libel lawsuits only for "public figures" to prove they were libeled. They have to prove three things--that the allegation wasn't true, that the reporter knew it wasn't true, and the allegation hurt their reputation in some way. An ordinary person only has to prove that the allegation isn't true. As always the burden of proof is on the plaintiff, not the defendant. This makes any kind of libel suit hard to win if you are in the public eye, whether you are put there by events or you put yourself out there willingly.

yeah...the " proving the reporter knew it wasn't true" and that the reputation was hurt are tough. The defense could have a field day for parading people who never liked the plantiff onto the stand to say the reputation was already bad with them!
And, I wonder how many readers understand how low the standard is for legally being a " public figure"? EVER had your name or photo in the paper or one of the local social mags? If so, you are a " public figure".