Not my classroom.
Posted on 04/14/2009 11:41:40 AM PDT by Big_Monkey
A federal appeals court ruled Tuesday that Rep. John P. Murtha (D-Pa.) cannot be sued for defamation or slander stemming from comments he made regarding the death of Iraqi civilians in Haditha in November 2005.
A Marine involved in that incident, Sgt. Frank Wuterich, sued Murtha for libel and defamation after the lawmaker said the civilian deaths were “cold-blooded murder and war crimes'' in several public appearances.
Wuterich wanted to depose Murtha, and a federal judge initially backed Wuterich.
But the Bush Justice Department sided with Murtha, arguing that Murtha was acting within his official duties as a congressman when he made the Haditha comments and thus couldn’t be sued under the Federal Tort Claims Act. That legislation protects government officials from legal action over official duties.
The Justice Dept. appealed the lower court ruling to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, and that court sided with Murtha and the Justice Department Tuesday.
(Excerpt) Read more at politico.com ...
This Federal Judge, and the Justice Department that filed in support of Murtha, see it otherwise.
Murtha was completely out of line and he clearly slandered a Marine that was later completely exonerated. No Justice - No Peace!
Imagine that. Who would have thunk...
Murtha is a slug.
That said, his defense should have been that no one believes a Democrat anyway!
America, where only the fascists have the right to free speech. end sarcasm
Maybe some Marines should take a bus over to where Murtha lives, like ACORN did to the Bonus Boys of AIG?
When the court system no longer provides justice there is no law, there is only dictatorship...
This needs to be taken to the Supreme Court. If they reach the same conclusion, we’re dead.
We've already lost the presidency and the congress. If we lose the courts, too, I don't know.
“the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia”
Well, that explains it all doesn’t it?
“The Justice Dept. appealed the lower court ruling to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, and that court sided with Murtha and the Justice Department Tuesday.”
Please note that the Justice Dept. appealed a decision they WON in the “lower court.”
The Supreme Court hasn’t touched this yet, and they should.
“When the court system no longer provides justice there is no law, there is only dictatorship...”
It’s amazing when you stop to think about it ...
Democrats control:
The Presidency and the Executive Dept.
The Senate
The House of Representatives
The Judiciary
The media except for talk radio and maybe Fox News
The entire educational system
Governorships of more than half of the states
Mayorships of most of our largest cities
If that ain’t a totalitarian system, what is?
The only good thing is that Conservatives have a lot of guns.
Not my classroom.
I’m beginning to think that how you can tell most Americans are good people is because the vast majority never run for public office. You would think everyone would be clamoring to belong to the pol overclass with all its special perks and privileges.
freegards
“... a Marine that was later completely exonerated”
Wuterich’s military trial isn’t over yer.
Donations needed ... http://www.frankwuterich.com/
The three judge panel:
Karen LeCraft Henderson—appointed by George H. W. Bush in 1990; previously appointed by Ronald Reagan in 1986 as US District Judge, South Carolina
Harry T. Edwards—appointd by Jimmy Carter in 1980
Judith Rogers—appointed by Bill Clinton in 1994 (replaced Clarence Thomas).
Good point. I should have added that. Murtha didn't single out Wutterich in his statement. There were eight Marines initially charged. One was acquitted and six others had their charges dropped. I believe Wutterich's case is the only one that is still pending, as you point out.
The same reasoning would apply to the letter that Schumer wrote concerning IndyMac.
just “beginning to”?????
Well, I hate to break it to you, but it's been that way for some time. The Courts don't exist to dispense justice in this country anymore. They are more for protecting the powerful and keeping things as they are. Did Terri Schiavo get "justice"? She got the grave. Dino Rossi in the '04 Governor's race in WA state trusted the courts to render him justice, and he got kicked to the curb. The 'Rat Fraudoire is riding that 128 vote "win" to three consecutive terms as Governor. Look what is happening in Minnesota right now in the Senate race. Coleman put his faith in the courts and he's going to get reamed. It would have happened in FL in 2000 except some people got off their buns and went down to the election offices and literally pounded on doors to be let in to oversee a fair process. Absent that, they knew they couldn't count on any local court to give them a fair shake.
So yours is a good question, one that echos history for those with the ears to hear. Where do you go for justice when the courts are corrupt? Where to do go for protection when the police are crooked? Where do you go for fair representation and honest government when the elections are fixed and meaningless? Our forefathers faced the same questions in the mid 1770s. They tried to work within the existing system at the time and got nothing but continued injury and insult and injustice for their trouble. It would have gone on that way but for the fact that the patriots started shooting at people on a bridge in Concord.
Fortunately, Murtha is a public figure, so none of us can be sued for slandering that sleazy anti-American embarassment to the country and to the Marine Corps. Murtha is such a disgusting person, inside and out, that it's not possible to find a description that is both insulting and false. He's one of the extremely rare people to have served with our Marine Corps who deserves to be called an "ex-Marine". Murtha's motto: Semper Infidelis
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