Posted on 10/18/2004 10:52:17 AM PDT by watchdog_writer
Another liberal scare tactic to create a chilling effect upon the right of free speech.
Kenneth J. Campbell, now a professor at the University of Delaware, said in the suit that "Stolen Honor: Wounds That Never Heal" combines footage of him appearing at a 1971 war protest with narration that claims that many of the supposed veterans who took part in the event were later "discovered as frauds" who "never set foot on the battlefield, or left the comfort of the States, or even served in uniform."
If this case is decided in favor of Campbell then wouldn’t every GI who served in Vietnam have the right to sue Kerry for testifying that GI’s committed war crimes? Professor Campbell was clearly in the group about which the statement was made so the question is whether the reference to frauds was understood to apply to Campbell. Obviously not everyone in the group was a fraud. The wording in the complaint is “many” were “discovered as frauds”.
It is necessary that viewers believe that the statement refers to Campbell. How is Campbell going to prove that the statement attached to him? Campbell will not win because the statement is not a general condemnation of the entire group. The statement could not reasonably be understood to apply to every member of the group. He would have to prove that the statement could be understood to refer or probably refer to “each” member of the group, which is clearly not the case here.
Finally, if the statement is true then the public’s right to know and the absence of a falsity should be the decisive factors in denying Campbell’s claim. Since the statement is being published in a public medium the standard of proof required to prevail against the publisher is much greater than in the case of the statement in a private communication about a person not a public figure. By marching and exposing one’s self as a member of a group seeking public recognition it can be said that Campbell was for that purpose a “public figure”.
Yep. The highly educated elite should learn to read statements entirely ... but then facts just seem to always get in the way of their emotional position.
Someone said earlier (somewhere in FReep-dom), "LIBERALS see what they belive -- CONSERVATIVES believe what they see."
U of Delaware, wow I didn't know they had big enough rocks there that would allow Campbell to crawl out from under.
Many were discovered to be complete frauds, [add this] while the rest, who were indeed ex-soldiers, were plain liars, some were coerced into telling false stories against their will by John Fing Kerry.
That should be enough to include the whole group.
The fact is, not one of Kerry's group of VVAW told the truth.
Nationwide TV Scedule for Stolen Honor is at:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1248856/posts
Let's spread the word and try to get undecided voters, independents, and receptive Democrats to watch the program.
The truth is always a legal defense in libel or slander cases.
"Everyone is in favor of free speech. Hardly a day passes without its being extolled, but some people's idea of it is that they are free to say what they like, but if anyone says anything back, that is an outrage."
--Winston Churchill
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