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 ...
Awesome! I would be proud to have you teach my child.
Yeah, and I got tenure. They can’t touch me.
The Imperial Congress Elite
Never confuse the legal system with a system of justice - - you will be disappointed every time.
Government acting to protect it’s own. The revolution is here folks. It’s just a matter of time.
He can lie as much as he wants and we protect him.
I wonder how many deaths of our brave boys occurred due to his vicious statements made against them?
Sued?
Murtha should be horse whipped.
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