Posted on 01/22/2005 6:17:33 AM PST by IonImplantGuru
Tucson's Center for Biological Diversity must pay rancher and banker Jim Chilton $600,000 because the environmental group defamed him with a press release and photos posted on its Web site, a jury decided Friday.
In a 9-1 verdict, jurors in Pima County Superior Court awarded Chilton $100,000 for the harm done to his reputation and Arivaca cattle company. The jury tacked on an additional $500,000 in punitive damages meant to punish the center and deter others from committing libel.
Chilton, whose wife, Sue, is chairwoman of the Arizona Game and Fish Commission, sued the center over material that alleged he mismanaged his 21,500-acre Forest Service allotment, northwest of Nogales.
Many of the center's 21 photos depicted barren patches that captions described as "denuded" by cows. But Chilton's lawyer showed jurors wide-angle photos taken at the same locations that revealed the surroundings as worthy of a postcard, with oaks and mesquites dotting lush, rolling hills.
(Excerpt) Read more at dailystar.com ...
Collecting it will be a never ending task.
sue the board members personally - they advocated the actions against honest people. Make them pay.
GMTA
Fabulous! For once, the good guys win one.
Yes!
"Keeping enviro-wackos honest; a never ending task."
But oh so emotionally rewarding...heh,heh,heh.
"We did things with the best of intentions. If there were some mistakes, they were honest mistakes," he said.(Suckling said)"
I think he's just sucking-up.
RICO suit?
since "advocacy journalism" appeared in the 1960s, there's been this arrogant attitude that journalists have the right to say whatever they want and label it "news".
I celebrate the rancher's victory, but the sad thing is that the rest of us are paying for it with our tax money. The stupid PETA or National Wildlife Resource Fund or some private groups ought to have to bear this cost.
With the punitive damages, Chilton should be able to "pierce the corporate shield" and go after each of the members individually, and take their homes, cars, bank accounts, savings, heck, maybe even their first born! Hurrah!
--Boot Hill
Let's see: they're judgment-proof. But the verdict still sends the enviro wackos a message: pick on hard-working rural Americans at your own risk.
Some of these wackjobs need to be jailed.
Huh??? How do you figure this? The award is not against a government entity, so how do you figure taxpayers are paying for it; seems to me it's donators to this enviro group (and their insurance company) who will pay for the award. (Hopefully, eventually, after lots of appeals, as other posters have noted.)
Five generations of ranching? That right there tells me they are not destroying the land. Only liberals crap in their own well. Bankrupt these eco-terrorists!
ping!
good news ping
The bar would have been lower had Chilton not been ruled a public figure by Judge Richard Fields. An ordinary citizen would only have to show the center was negligent through a preponderance of the evidence.
This was a solid win.
It's about time! They need to keep going after these groups. They think they can say and do anything as long as it's in the name of the "environment". Most of them live in the city and have NEVER worked the land. They have NO idea.
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