Posted on 04/14/2016 7:18:01 AM PDT by reaganaut1
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Trump’s recent proposal to relax America’s libel laws is an affront on our civil liberties. He wants to make it easier to sue news organizations so that he can use the court system as a personal attack dog on those who dare to speak up against him.
Lawsuits like these are often called SLAPPs (Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation). According to the Public Participation Project, these suits are intended to “chill free speech and healthy debate by targeting those who communicate with their government or speak out on issues of public interest.”
Much to Trump’s delight, SLAPP lawsuits can be brought against anyone or any company — from consumers who post less-than-stellar reviews online to TV news outlets that are sued for simply reporting the news.
Legislation aimed squarely at remedying such an outlandish situation is before Congress, and similar measures have been approved in more than two dozen states. Commonly referred to as anti-SLAPP legislation, these measures provide a safeguard against lawsuits intended to censor, intimidate, and silence critics.
Speaking to a crowd in Fort Worth, Texas, earlier this year, Trump explained that he wants to “open up our libel laws so when they write purposely negative and horrible and false articles, we can sue them and win lots of money.” Combine that with a history of vengefulness and an extremely long enemies list, and one gets the sense that Trump’s lawsuit list would be filled with journalists, bloggers, and everyday citizens, as well as those unnamed victims silenced by the fear of retaliation that could hurt them personally, professionally, and financially.
Unsurprisingly, Trump’s proposal is fraught with factual errors. Libel laws are state-based. No such statute exists at the federal level. And more than half of U.S. states have already enacted anti-SLAPP statutes designed to protect Americans
(Excerpt) Read more at spectator.org ...
Big media must be crushed, with Gary Shapiro and all the other Shapiros in the media going down with him. We must find some way to strike against the major networks while protecting bloggers and smaller networks in the process. The media wields so much power in this country and is entirely unelected.
Slightly off-topic:
Trump and his family were interviewed on CNN a couple of days ago. Wasn’t Ted Cruz and his family interviewed on CNN last night.
I’ve searched for a video of the interview (the’re video of the whole Trump interview) and can’t find one. One link appears to have videos of excerpts from the interview but none of those videos play.
What can you tell me about the Cruz-and-family interview? Can you give me a link to a video?
Same standard for sueing if you are John Q Public or some notable famous person.
Equal protections and all that.
Libel and slander are the currency of the MSM and DemocRAT Party (but I repeat myself).
Why even have laws when they are flouted and not enforced?
Trump is an authoritarian who will not tolerate any criticism- his desire to change libel laws is chilling.
Scalia believed the same way Trump does about that concept.
Trump is a liberal POS. What else would he do?
Oh yeah, “make a deal” with Schumer to gut the Second Amendment.
Trumps comments are specific to the absurdly higher bar “public” persons must meet. Trump is right, and it’s long over due.
“Trump is an authoritarian who will not tolerate any criticism- his desire to change libel laws is chilling.”
It may very well take an authoritarian to stand up to the totalitarians who seem to be taking over society rom the left.
There is no punishment too severe for Lying, Slandering, Leftist Progressive DemoRat Enemedia False Witness Scum, ... NONE!
they said the same thing in 1933 in a certain European country.
I prefer a constitutional republic to a banana republic.
I have neighbors from NY who have stated that that is how Trump operates. He sues everybody for everything. If you say something he doesn’t like he sues you. If you beat him in a deal he sues you. If he wants something that belongs rightly to you he sues you. He is the classic thin skinned, whiny, bully.
He has benefitted from the primary process by garnering 46% of the delegates with 37% of the vote but now it is all "cheating and rigged," when it is his own fault for not having a ground game. He can't manage a country if he can't manage a primary season. He is very off-putting.
BS. All he wants to do is take out the “malicious intent” currently required now.
So that explains why a political neophyte (Donald Trump) became the GOP frontrunner!
And the fact that Donald Trump remains the frontrunner, even in the face of a systematic, slanted, and propaganda-saturated campaign of character assassination, is further tribute to his "ill-preparedness".
I guess Ted Cruz and others were even more ill prepared at actually getting the support of GOP voters...
If you've been here long enough to remember the Bill Clinton years, try to wrap your brain around that concept.
There is a lot of anger that fueled Trump’s rise. He was not prepared with a ground game and the delegate count is what matters. He may win 1237 and get the nomination and he may not. Can he handle the process of an open convention without bothering to learn the rules? He has finally hired experienced people to help. Time will tell.
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