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Judge dismisses Covington student's defamation suit against Washington Post
Fox News ^ | 26 July 2019 | Vandana Rambaran, Bill Mears, Samuel Chamberlain

Posted on 07/26/2019 6:52:53 PM PDT by Magnatron

A federal judge in Kentucky Friday threw out a defamation lawsuit filed against The Washington Post by Covington Catholic High School student Nicholas Sandmann and his family over the paper's reporting of an incident between the young man and a Native American man this past January in Washington.

The lawsuit, which was filed in February, sought $250 million in damages and accused the Post of practicing "a modern-day form of McCarthyism" by targeting Sandmann and "using its vast financial resources to enter the bully pulpit by publishing a series of false and defamatory print and online articles ... to smear a young boy who was in its view an acceptable casualty in their war against the president."

Sandmann became the focus of outrage after a video of him standing face-to-face with a Native American man, Nathan Phillips, while wearing a red "Make America Great Again" hat surfaced and rapidly spread online. Sandmann was one of a group of Covington students attending the anti-abortion March for Life in Washington, D.C., while Phillips was attending the Indigenous Peoples' March on the same day.

In a 36-page ruling, U.S. District Judge William Bertelsman noted that the Post never mentioned Sandmann by name in its initial coverage of the incident, referring only to groups of "hat wearing teens." Bertelsman added that "the words used contain no reflection upon any particular individual" and thus could not be constituted as defamation. The judge also ruled that the newspaper used language that was "loose, figurative," and "rhetorical hyperbole" which is protected by the First Amendment.

(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...


TOPICS: Breaking News; Constitution/Conservatism; Front Page News; Government; News/Current Events; Politics/Elections; US: District of Columbia; US: Kentucky
KEYWORDS: covington; covingtoncatholic; didyousearch; districtofcolumbia; jeffbezos; judiciary; maga; peanutboyjudge; sandmann; senilejudge; washingtoncompost; washingtonpost; yesidid
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To: Carl Vehse

Check the flight logs for the Lolita Express.


41 posted on 07/27/2019 4:02:54 AM PDT by thoughtomator (The Clinton Coup attempt was a worse attack on the USA than was 9/11)
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To: Magnatron

They tried to ruin his life with their lies. The Post needs to come clean and make amends.


42 posted on 07/27/2019 5:51:56 AM PDT by bgill
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To: Magnatron
The judge also ruled that the newspaper used language that was "loose, figurative," and "rhetorical hyperbole" which is protected by the First Amendment.

Translation:

We can tell all kinds of LIES about you and you have ZERO recourse now; Buster!!


43 posted on 07/27/2019 6:11:39 AM PDT by Elsie (Heck is where people, who don't believe in Gosh, think they are not going...)
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To: Magnatron
Lionel Nation is raving that this is a victory for free speech.
44 posted on 07/27/2019 6:21:06 AM PDT by itsahoot (Welcome to the New USA where Islam is a religion of peace and Christianity is a mental disorder.)
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To: rhombus10
"83 year old Carter appointed judge."

83 year old judge... What a shame... I'm only 75 and I have trouble keeping track of my hearing aids, glasses, teeth and remembering to zip my pants, or even if I have any on before I leave the house... I can't even begin to imagine what I'll be like at 83...
I sure as heck wouldn't want to be responsible for making decisions about other people's future...

45 posted on 07/27/2019 6:22:57 AM PDT by unread (Joe McCarthy was right.......)
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To: Revolutionary

When the Deep State and Dems slander decent people like the Covington ones, silences conservatives on Facebook and Twitter accounts,demonetizes them,sends Antifa to make sure no one dares come out for a public rally or to show support for President Trump, allows tens of thousands of gang members and unassimilating illegals to vote and to go on welfare,and threatens their gun rights and freedom of speech-——then the normal outlets for expression have been closed.

This leaves the alternative.

Progression of similar trend:

In the 1950s folk singing young people tried to sing and play acoustical instruments in Washington Square Park in New York. They were billy clubbed and arrested (no permit, etc).

In 1965 young people tried to get into overcrowded music clubs and crowded the sidewalk and the street outside and it resulted in billy clubs and mass arrests chronicled in the song by Stephen Stills For What Its Worth and a book Riot On Sunset Strip by Domenic Priore. They looked like the Beach Boys-—no beards, short hair, nice pants and shirts.

That all seems tame , doesn’t it? Later, Berkley Free Speech Movement,SDS,1968 Dem. convention riots and the bombs set off by the Weather Underground (Bill Ayres,et al.)

I think the Deep State and Dems are overconfident they can handle the 2021 version if things go south. Working within the system may seem quaint by then.


46 posted on 07/27/2019 7:29:44 AM PDT by frank ballenger (End vote fraud,non-citizen voting & leftist media news censorship or we are finished.)
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To: Magnatron

The official case documents, including the briefs and oral argument transcripts can be downloaded from: https://ecf.kyed.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/DktRpt.pl?288357018891502-L_1_0-1


47 posted on 07/27/2019 7:42:51 AM PDT by AJFavish (www.allanfavish.com)
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To: MAGAthon

Appeal or not: His lawyer is going after much more than one “news” organization.


48 posted on 07/27/2019 7:50:26 AM PDT by AFPhys ((Liberalism is what Smart looks like to Stupid people - ® - Mia of KC. Rush - 1:50-8/21/15))
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To: Magnatron

I am pleased the family is going to appeal.

I hope that is true.

Wish them good luck.


49 posted on 07/27/2019 10:32:31 AM PDT by Maris Crane
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To: unread
83 year old judge... What a shame... I'm only 75 and I have trouble keeping track of my hearing aids, glasses, teeth and remembering to zip my pants, or even if I have any on before I leave the house...

Not sure you're not being sarcastic but I'm in my 60s and have already noticed a decline. Trump's high energy amazes and impresses me.

50 posted on 07/27/2019 10:37:50 AM PDT by rhombus10
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To: Magnatron

This Commie weasel in a black dress proves how important that voting for Constitutional candidates is.


51 posted on 07/27/2019 10:44:20 AM PDT by alstewartfan ("The strangest women run wild down there Covered head to toe with Fur and hair." Al Stewart in Hanno)
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To: Magnatron

But of course, the courts are so packed with liberal judges that it’s become a bad joke.


52 posted on 07/27/2019 11:01:11 AM PDT by Excuse_My_Bellicosity (Liberalism is a social disease.)
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To: lasereye

They only plastered their faces all over the place, and everyone knows those honkeys all look alike.


53 posted on 07/27/2019 11:42:34 AM PDT by Eleutheria5 (If you are not prepared to use force to defend civilization, then be prepared to accept barbarism.)
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To: Magnatron

Appeal.


54 posted on 07/27/2019 11:43:08 AM PDT by Eleutheria5 (If you are not prepared to use force to defend civilization, then be prepared to accept barbarism.)
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To: Magnatron

The US Congress just tried to impeach Trump because of something Trump wrote on Twitter.

Your government no longer works for you.


55 posted on 07/27/2019 1:17:38 PM PDT by Tzimisce
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To: Magnatron

If I was a liberal in 2019, I’d be laughing and shitting on everyone too. :)


56 posted on 07/27/2019 1:18:42 PM PDT by Tzimisce
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To: Tzimisce
Your government no longer works for you.

Your government has never worked for you. The only difference in this government and any other is they have always allowed the citizens to prosper as long as they prosper more. If they fail to prosper then watch out.

57 posted on 07/27/2019 2:30:11 PM PDT by itsahoot (Welcome to the New USA where Islam is a religion of peace and Christianity is a mental disorder.)
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To: Magnatron

Sorry folks, I thought it was weak case of slander from the start. On the up side, much of the media had to show the student(s) were not bad guys harassing a Native American.


58 posted on 07/27/2019 2:34:29 PM PDT by A Navy Vet (I'm not Islamophobic - I'm Islamonauseous. Also LGBTQxyz nauseous.)
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To: Magnatron

AGE MATTERS...

This judge is 83 years old...another Robert Mueller..wandering in the woods, lost and mentally gone...


59 posted on 07/27/2019 5:02:07 PM PDT by haircutter
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To: lasereye

If there was a photo of Sandmann and the Indian attached to the story, then there was defamation. Stupid assed judge.


60 posted on 07/27/2019 11:16:19 PM PDT by MadMax, the Grinning Reaper
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