Posted on 02/11/2016 3:17:34 PM PST by aimhigh
Last summer, we noted a crazy case in which the famous Hollywood actor James Woods sued a random Twitter troll who had been making fun of Woods. The anonymous troll.., mocked some of Woods' own nonsensical tweets about Caitlyn Jenner and Planned Parenthood by saying:
"@RealJamesWoods @benshapiro cocaine addict James Woods still sniffing and spouting."
-- Abe List (@abelist) July 15, 2015
Then, earlier this month, there was a hearing, and LA Superior Court judge Mel Recana, appeared to side with Abe List, issuing a 10-page tentative ruling dismissing the case. In that tentative ruling, Judge Recana noted: The court finds . . the tweet at issue is not a statement of fact but rather "rhetorical hyperbole, vigorous epithets, lusty and imaginative expressions of contempt and language used in a loose figurative sense" that does not support a defamation action....
{Less} than a week later, Judge Recana released a 1-page final order that says the exact opposite:
As contended by plaintiff: Applying the totality of circumstances test, .. , it is clear that any reader of the AL False Statement could and indeed must view it as a statement of fact. As described by Professor Finegan, AL's use of a prenomial characterization (i.e., "cocaine addict") followed by a proper noun (i.e., "James Woods") is a well-established linguistic structure widely used to characterize people with shorthand factual information. Prof. Finegan's opinion that "many if not all readers of the 'cocaine addict' Tweet will understand and interpret Abe List to be making a factual claim about James Woods -- namely that he is a cocaine addict' is on an issue of fact. His opinion is sufficiently beyond common experience and assists the trier of fact.
(Excerpt) Read more at techdirt.com ...
Hmmm. I made a crack about Bill Maher and booger-sugar on Facebook, earlier.
Nope. No bias there.
Yeah, especially those forums which specialize in falsely accusing people of coaine use.
Don’t Tweek and Tweet, I always say...
Or is it
Don’t Toot and Tweet :-?
Oh never mind.
Good luck, James!
Oh, NO! I am about to be found out!
I shall never, ever, live this down. Oh, what shall I ever DO! The shame, the shame, I cannot bear it another minute!
Does this mean I can’t say “ that rapist, Bill Clinton” unless I add “ alleged”?
Recent Illinois Supreme Court Ruling
http://www.sltrib.com/home/2641582-155/comcast-must-reveal-anonymous-commenter
We’ll see how deep the impact will be.
Though I will say that James is very conservative and I enjoy reading his tweets. He’s one of the good guys.
I think, “credibly accused serial rapist,” ought to cover your bases.
I agree.
Great development, poor source for the story.
Hmmm. I made a crack about Bill Maher and booger-sugar on Facebook, earlier”
I make fun of Peen Face all the time
Used to be that credibility was taken into account, an anonymous whispering campaign didn’t mean as much as something from a source that acknowledged itself.
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