Home » Sandmann’s lawyers respond to the WaPo

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Sandmann’s lawyers respond to the <i>WaPo</i> — 21 Comments

  1. The very fact that WaPo responded with weasel words is itself a victory. Bezos’ enormous wealth didn’t prevent them from feeling the heat.

    CNN should be on the defensive in the near future. Ditto the Hollywood executive who suggested putting the kids in a wood chipper. Ditto Kathy Griffin and her ilk who encouraged the doxing and harassment of the kids. And ditto Professional Indian and media bottom-feeder Nathaniel Phillips. Let them all mumble their mealy-mouthed excuses while they sweat.

  2. “This lawsuit was necessary, because even if it’s lost, it publicizes the fact that Sandmann is innocent and was falsely accused.” — Neo

    This is why Palin brought her suit against the NYT (which she should have won): there needs to be constant publicity about media bias and their egregious defamation of anyone they want anytime they want just because They Are The Press (“and you are not, you silly blogger you!”) —

    Thank God for the people like Neo and PowerLine and so many others fighting back against Big Ink.

  3. I left this comment for the law firm:
    “Best Wishes for a complete, total, and remunerative take-down of every smear artist involved in the attack on Nicholas and the other Covington Catholic students.
    I hope you grind them all and severally into the mire from which they sprang.”

  4. One need only review the Post’s published list of its own Policies and Standards to find violation after violation after violation.

    This is what is going to cook them. This shows actual malice aforethought. Or, as I expect when this gets presented to the jury, we’ll see this:

    WaPo lawyer: Your honor, I object!
    Judge: On what grounds?
    WaPo lawyer: On the grounds that it is devastating to my case.

  5. Speaking of libels against minors, consider Graham Greene and Shirley Temple. Shirley Temple scandal was real reason Graham Greene fled to Mexico.

    In 1937 Greene was a film reviewer for Night and Day magazine. In a review of the Shirley Temple vehicle Wee Willie Winkie, he wrote: “Her admirers – middle-aged men and clergymen – respond to her dubious coquetry, to the sight of her well-shaped and desirable little body, packed with enormous vitality, only because the safety curtain of story and dialogue drops between their intelligence and their desire.”

    Twentieth Century Fox sued on behalf of Temple, then aged eight, on the grounds that Greene had implied she played deliberately to “a public of licentious old men, ready to enjoy the fine flavour of such an unripe, charming little creature”, Cavalcanti wrote. He added: “Thanks to vigilant, quick-witted friends, Graham was warned that the Americans producing the film had introduced a writ of libel against him, meaning that not only would the backers of Night and Day pay a large fine, but he, Graham himself, faced a prison sentence. The only solution was to find a country without extradition. They chose Mexico and our poor Graham went away very quickly indeed. Very likely Shirley Temple never learned that it was partly thanks to her that, during his exile, Graham Greene wrote one of his best books.”

    The trial was held on 22 March 1938. Greene had left for Mexico on 29 January and did not return to Britain until May. The judge, who fined the magazine a crippling £3,500, lamented it was a shame Greene was out of the court’s reach, said Cavalcanti. (more at the link.)

    Note some differences: Shirley Temple was a public figure; Sandman was not. Graham Greene was sued in Great Britain because libel laws are more stringent there.

    I wonder it Sandman would have consented to a WaPo interview, which would have then left the article(s) with a “Sandman said..Nathan Phillips said” narrative, which would have been fairer and less likely to result in a lawsuit. Did the WaPo even consider interviewing Sandman? I doubt it.

    Recall that Kathy Griffin wanted the Covington High boys to be doxxed.

    ( While I despised Graham Greene’s politics, I have enjoyed reading his novels.)

  6. I wonder if this lawsuit will result in the WaPo being fairer, more objective in its coverage. OTOH, were the WaPo to do so, it would lose a lot of its readership. Read the comments to see why I wrote that.

  7. Yes, a most interesting travelogue.

    If I recall correctly, Greene got pretty sick while in Mexico. If this is true, might it have been some sort of Quetzalcoatlan payback….

    BTW, regarding doxxing the kids, I believe that some of the students (along with their families) received violent threats.

  8. I doubt WP will be found guilty, but dragging them through the muck of the pigsty is a good thing. The softer targets are the celebrities who twittered their umbrage and slander, make them pay through the nose.

  9. “… the gist of those arguments being that the paper was only quoting other people.”

    That’s what Pelosi called “the wrap-up smear.” Someone does the smear, then the smear gets merchandized by reporters reporting on the smearer. We claimed nothing, he did.

    Judge Napolitano thought that this libel case would be a tough one because there should be a literal income stream that was interrupted by the libel. I hope he is wrong.

  10. I’m hoping that Sandmann and his lawyers rip a new one for everyone who piled on.

  11. They all deserve to lose. It is satisfying to see the lawyers fight.

    I think they will win. Any fair judge will agree that WaPo committed slander.

    I don’t know about the settlement. I hope Nick holds out for a jury trial. The failure of WaPo to follow its own guidelines will likely be a key reason for their guilt.

    They will only get better if they lose, with a significant loss.

  12. “This lawsuit was necessary, because even if it’s lost, it publicizes the fact that Sandmann is innocent and was falsely accused.”

    Yes, this is the best reason for the lawsuit.

    And either I missed something or such lawsuits can make a difference because I don’t recall hearing Spike Lee chime in too much on Sandmann even though he had no problem with the George Zimmerman case. That was the case where he tweeted out “Zimmerman’s home address” – only it was the wrong Zimmerman and that couple sued him.

  13. charles
    And either I missed something or such lawsuits can make a difference because I don’t recall hearing Spike Lee chime in too much on Sandmann even though he had no problem with the George Zimmerman case. That was the case where he tweeted out “Zimmerman’s home address” – only it was the wrong Zimmerman and that couple sued him.

    Paying attorney fees are a trivial expense for Jeff Bezos, but for most of us, having to pay attorney fees in a libel lawsuit would encourage us to talk more carefully in the future.

    I would love to have Kathy Griffin hit with a lawsuit.

  14. “All of them deserve nothing less than a ruinous bankruptcy.” – GB

    From your keyboard to God’s ears…we can hope & pray.

  15. Oh…Boss…looks like the Russkies ran off with the edit function again…coulda been the Chicoms I guess…they’re tricky too.

  16. I hope Nick and his legal beagles get Medieval on the Post, but I have to wonder how a sixteen year old boy likes being referred to as a child.

  17. Count me as one more vote for ruinous bankruptcy. Absolutely the Post acted with malice, not just negligence. When they got their chosen narrative out of Philips they never had any intention of interviewing Sandmann or the other kids to get their side of the story.

    There is something about this case that angers me so much, much more than even Jussie Smollett as bad as that was. They went after kids. Absolutely unconscionable. You see it in comments from left-wing trolls on conservative blogs, still mocking and taunting high school kids. I hate the left so much.

  18. John on March 6, 2019 at 10:28 am at 10:28 am said:
    I think the last thing the WaPo wants is for this law suit to get before a jury.
    * **
    Speaking of avoiding juries – the Colorado Civil Rights Commission decided to stand down from its second round of suits against Jack Phillips and his Masterpiece Cake Shop, after evidence surfaced that would certainly torpedo the Commission in light of their previous loss at the Supreme court.

    http://www.adfmedia.org/News/PRDetail/10622

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