Sue and publicize. And then collect. The MAGA kids have a lot of support, but they also have a lot of detractors who will continue defaming them for the rest of their lives.
Many parties on that list are not shielded (to a degree) by any “press” exceptions.Also, courts, liberal or conservative, take a very dim view of private youths having their lives endangered by the powerful and wealthy.
If the listed defendants have to pony up big bucks, enthusiasm for defaming children will dry up. Minors definitely, IMHO, cannot be put in the “public figure” box and denied the right to sue. That’s what their lawyer said, and that certainly sounds right.The New York Times v. Sullivan SCOTUS decision which made it so hard to sue for libel was unanimous in 1964. Trouble is, the facts before the Court then sound quaint now. First and foremost, the plaintiff who lost that case wasn’t a Republican or a Democrat who would be in good standing today - he was a southern Democrat. And secondly, “bias in the media” really only became an issue after 1964. Not to say that Goldwater didn’t complain about “the referees” in 1964, but . . .
The case was a pure libel complaint, but the reality is that all major journalism is in, as Adam Smith phased it, “a conspiracy against the public.” They must be sued on antitrust grounds, and prevented from using each other as references for their libelous stories. Presently if you sue one of them, that one will say, “but others said the same thing first.” But if the courts are shown that major journalism outlets are all in cahoots, that should be a whole different ball game.
Fondly do I hope.
In reality Sullivan only affects Republicans; Democrats don’t get libeled.