Posted on 09/25/2008 9:19:51 AM PDT by Iron Munro
Edited on 09/25/2008 11:17:56 AM PDT by Admin Moderator. [history]
One of the Marines cleared in the killings of Iraqi civilians in the town of Haditha plans to sue his congressman today for statements he says defamed him and other members of his squad.
Former Marine Lance Cpl. Justin Sharratt, 24, of Canonsburg, will file a civil lawsuit against U.S. Rep. John P. Murtha, D-Johnstown, who was widely quoted two years ago saying that eight Marines carried out a cold-blooded killing of 24 civilians in the Iraqi town on Nov. 19, 2005.
(Excerpt) Read more at post-gazette.com ...
Murtha is a disgrace to the country. Too bad keelhauling has been outlawed.
Unfortunately, you can’t sue an elected official when he is acting in his official capacity. I hope the Marine doesn’t waste a lot of money on this. It’s futile and will get thrown out.
Hoo-rah!
Murtha slandering this Marine was no more in his “official capacity” than was the illegal releasing of tapes of private phone conversations by Rep. Jim Mc Dermott. He was successfully sued to the tune of a million bucks. Murtha should pay at least as much. He, of course, will try to drag it out, hoping to run this Marine out of money, same as Mc Dermott did. I hope it doesn’t work.
As I understand it, television interviews are not considered "official ccapicity". Give me link to the law that states otherwise and I'll review and correct myself if I'm wrong.
Murtha is a Traitor and a Low Down Scumbag and hopefully this Lawsuit will Bankrupt and Totally this Dirty Pervert collected during his Ill gotten and Decrepit Life! For what he did, if it was against the Chinese Government, he’d be lined up against a blank wall and shot with one bullet! Since Murtha did it against Our Brave Wonderful Marines, the Chinese would make him a WAR HERO, like they did to John F***ing Kerry!!!! MURTHA STINKS!! and so does OBAMA!!
Is that true regardless of where the official is acting? In Canada, MPs can't be sued for anything they say in Parliament. If they say something slanderous on the steps of Parliament (or beyond) they aren't protected from suits.
I did not know that being an Ass#%^& was an official capacity.
Slander is slander and there are laws about depriving people of their constitutional rights under color of authority.
I hope he dogs him to the gates of Hell.
His official capacity is to draft and vote on laws in the legislative branch of government. It could be held that unless he was either supporting or criticizing a specific bill up for consideration he inappropriately used his position to deny the marine his due process under the law. At the very least this lawsuit has the potential to start a very important debate.
Hey Murtha, even Adm. Bourda.......
Bingo! We have a winner
I guess that will be the key issue for the jury to decide as to whether Murtha was acting in a professional or personal capacity.
> Murtha is a disgrace to the country. Too bad keelhauling has been outlawed.
It’s also too bad they don’t use tar and feathers,
But then, tar is a petroleom product and expensive and feathers are expensive also.
You might want to CHECK WITH SENATOR PROXMIRE (R) before you make that mistake again !!
That particular constitutional ban applies only to “speech and debate” on the floor of the House, not to newspaper or television interviews, at least from a strict constructionist point of view.
I’d love to be on THAT jury.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.