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Nick Sandmann loses his defamation case against CBS, ABC, NYT, etc.

Discussion in 'Too Hot for Swamp Gas' started by gator_lawyer, Jul 27, 2022.

  1. tampagtr

    tampagtr VIP Member

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    I will go one further. Watching the whole thing, and measuring Sandman as a teenage boy, he acted above and beyond. Yes, he smirked, but that was nothing given the scenario.
     
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  2. slocala

    slocala VIP Member

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    I think as a 16 year old I would have just stepped aside and let the group continue in a straight line rather than make them snake around me.

    I also still hold doors open for people and yell at clouds.
     
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  3. homer

    homer GC Hall of Fame

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    The left will ban smirks when they can. No doubt they are a harmful and a dangerous weapon used by the MAGA. This thread is proof that the left is wigged out over smirks.

    Yay Amerika
     
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  4. Trickster

    Trickster VIP Member

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    Dude, it was a joke. Everyone who has ever lived has smirked. His was particularly “smirky”.

    As for the incident itself, it is abundantly clear that how one viewed it depended upon one’s politics. I was honest enough (for once) to admit that. So should you (for once).
     
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  5. homer

    homer GC Hall of Fame

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    Mine was a joke also. :)

    I’m smirking now.
     
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  6. VAg8r1

    VAg8r1 GC Hall of Fame

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    Although some of the righties have referred to Sandmann as the "highest paid employee of CNN" there really should be little doubt now that CNN settled with Sandmann for a token sum to avoid the cost of litigation which I had pointed out in multiple posts over the last couple of years. I think it should have been obvious when Lin Wood threatened to take CNN to court for violating its confidentiality agreement with Sandmann following an interview with an attorney experienced in defamation cases who suggested that the settlement was essentially a nuisance fee.
     
    Last edited: Jul 28, 2022
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  7. slocala

    slocala VIP Member

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    Read. Never thought he was defamed. In fact he became famed.
     
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  8. Gator515151

    Gator515151 GC Hall of Fame

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    • Off-topic Off-topic x 2
  9. VAg8r1

    VAg8r1 GC Hall of Fame

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  10. gator_lawyer

    gator_lawyer VIP Member

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    Evidence from the case if you read the article:
    Sandmann's Deposition
    • Sandmann observed as Phillips moved toward and then through the group of students. Some students moved out of Phillips’s way as he walked forward. Sandmann felt that Phillips was trying to intimidate the students by walking right up to them when he could have taken several other routes around them, so Sandmann felt like he wanted to stand up for his school. At the time, he did not know that Phillips’s intent was to get up to the Lincoln Memorial;
    • Sandmann can see how Phillips might have perceived that Sandmann was trying to block his path.
    Phillips's Declaration
    • Phillips declares: “It was very much my experience that Mr. Sandmann was blocking me from exiting the situation. It was very much my experience that he intentionally stood in my way in order to stop me from moving forward;”
    • Further: “I felt surrounded in that space, and I believed Mr. Sandmann did not want to let me pass. It seemed to me that Mr. Sandmann felt that he needed to stand there and block my way.”
    Other Witnesses
    • A group of six other witnesses declared that Phillips moved toward Sandmann, according to the judge. Those six witnesses were in Washington, D.C., to attend the Indigenous Peoples March which attracted Phillips, the order attests; only one previously knew Phillips, Bertelsman indicated. “Five of the six individuals aver that it was their impression that Sandmann blocked Phillips from moving forward,” the judge noted. (The other witness didn't personally see what happened because he moved away from the ruckus.)
    In other words, whatever you think about who provoked whom, the media didn't defame Sandmann. And that's what this case is about. (Although, what it really was about was sending a message to the press to try and chill their speech.)
     
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  11. duchen

    duchen VIP Member

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    Interesting here how posters expressed their own views without actually reading the testimony.
     
  12. phatGator

    phatGator GC Hall of Fame

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    Didn’t the judge also say that the media reported Phillips version of the story? Objective reporting would have presented both sides of the story. The commentary from the media, which falls under opinion, was decidedly against Sandman. Apparently opinions cannot be libelous, but they can be one-sided and inaccurate.

    And yes, I did read the ruling.
     
  13. Tjgators

    Tjgators Premium Member

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  14. gator_lawyer

    gator_lawyer VIP Member

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    Kid had plenty of resources to fight this battle. He simply didn't have a winning case. The First Amendment can be inconvenient.
     
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  15. coleg

    coleg GC Hall of Fame

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    Perhaps poster's chagrin towards corrupt media should be pivoted towards the right-wing sources that falsely assured him the kid was defamed. LOL
     
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  16. phatGator

    phatGator GC Hall of Fame

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    Forget this case. Do you believe in your heart of hearts that the majority of news outlets treated Sandman fairly?
     
  17. gator_lawyer

    gator_lawyer VIP Member

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    My recollection is that they reported based on limited video, and when more video emerged to offer context, they amended/corrected their reporting.
     
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  18. duchen

    duchen VIP Member

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    And there was still evidence to support the original reporting as the cited testimony shows.
     
  19. VAg8r1

    VAg8r1 GC Hall of Fame

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    More like the kid and his immensely greedy attorney unsuccessfully tried to monetize an error by the media for which they apologized and corrected shortly after the original inaccurate report.
     
  20. gator_lawyer

    gator_lawyer VIP Member

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    I recall them painting him as the instigator when it was actually the Black Hebrew Israelites who instigated things. But they didn't have video showing that part of the confrontation. When they did, they amended their reporting.