A law bit: Defamation

But now it’s a Rudi Tooti

Law school for non-lawyers

Defamation: slander or libel

Slander: one or more defamatory oral statements

Libel: one or more defamatory written statements or video(s) posted online

The defamation bit

As we all know, the jackass Rudi G. got whacked for defamation of two poll workers in Georgia. Free speech absolutists are bitching about how bad the lawsuit is. That really ticks me off. 

Criticism: Authoritarian regimes police speech and squelch dissent. That is precisely what the defamation lawsuit against Giuliani seeks to accomplish.

A rejection of the criticism: A reasonable characterization of defamation lawsuits is that they are heavily grounded in the law of defamation, which is heavily grounded in what some might consider to be common sense. 

This defamation suit seeks to protect innocent people, not guilty ones, from all kinds of harm inflicted by lies, slanders and other forms of dark free speech. To incur liability for the defamation defendant, the person defamed (plaintiff) must prove in court: 

(1) the defamer publicly made one or more false statements against the defamed person, 

(2) the defamer (a) knows that the statement(s) is/are false and defamatory, or (b) acted (spoke or wrote) in reckless disregard of these matters, or (c) acted negligently in failing to ascertain the facts, and 

(3) the defamed person suffered damages. 

In the case of the two poll workers, the insulting jackass Giuliani caused damages like this:

On 3 December 2020, Giuliani tweeted a selectively edited video</a> that he claimed showed Freeman and Moss wheeling suitcases full of ballots out from under a table after counting had concluded for the night. The accusation was quickly debunked by Georgia officials, but Giuliani continued to spread the lie. He also accused them of “passing around USB ports as if they’re vials of heroin or cocaine”, when Freeman was passing Moss a ginger mint.

Almost immediately, Freeman and Moss started to receive death threats through the mail, email, social media and voicemail. Many of those racist messages were displayed and played in court this week.

Giuliani refused to turn over documents as part of the case and conceded earlier this year that he made false statements about the women. Howell found him liable of defamation, intentional infliction of emotional distress and civil conspiracy. The only question for the jury to decide was how much in damages Giuliani should pay.

From the outset, lawyers for Freeman and Moss made it clear that the case was about repairing the reputations of their clients and sending a message to other powerful figures that they could not make similar false claims without consequences. 

“Today’s a good day. A jury stood witness to what Rudy Giuliani did to me and my daughter and held him accountable, and for that I’m thankful,” said Freeman, speaking at the court after the verdict. “Today is not the end of the road, we still have work to do. Rudy Giuliani was not the only one who spread lies about us, and others must be held accountable too. But that is tomorrow’s work. 

“I want people to understand this,” she added. “Money will never solve all my problems. I can never move back into the house that I call home. I will always have to be careful about where I go and who I choose to share my name with. I miss my home, I miss my neighbors, and I miss my name.”  (emphasis added)

Defenses to defamation include the allegedly defamatory statement(s) is/are (1) true, (2) pure opinion, and (3) privileged in some way, e.g., statements made in a court case or in a legislature. 

There is no significant social, political or other kind of benefit or value in defamatory statements. The statements that the unrepentant jackass Giuliani made, caused living hell for the two innocent women he cruelly attacked and defamed without reason, evidence or even any respect for the court or the two women.

Qs: In view of all of that, exactly what are the more than trivial damages to free speech in this defamation lawsuit? Is stopping people from lying about others in ways that causes harm a major burden on free speech?

Rudi needs professional help,

the Kraken would do nicely