Freedom of Speech

[Motown]

It's public enough for its reach to extend to most parts of the world (as my being here proves).

As for the meaning of libel ...

I hate myself for taking this seriously but here we go.


Does anyone outside of this forum know you as 'Drummond'? Do you derive any income or professional or social status due to the usage of your 'Drummond' identity?

[jimnyc]

Sorry all, I'm not sitting back and taking the higher road while a member sits here and still tries to claim that libel took place, and still demands an apology. If he doesn't like it here, he is more than free to leave. This incident happened a long time back, Kath hasn't spoken a word in eons, and here he is non-stop fucking whining. Either shut the fuck up or move on.

[jimnyc]

I hate myself for taking this seriously but here we go.


Does anyone outside of this forum know you as 'Drummond'? Do you derive any income or professional or social status due to the usage of your 'Drummond' identity?

He has no fucking case, everyone has told him that, not even in the UK would he have a case. He has jack shit, except for a case of the butts hurt. Boo fucking hoo. Everyone gets insulted from time to time.

[Motown]

He has no fucking case, everyone has told him that, not even in the UK would he have a case. He has jack shit, except for a case of the butts hurt. Boo fucking hoo. Everyone gets insulted from time to time.

So he's really serious? Sounds like a whiny little liberal to me.




(....stirring the pot....)

[indago]

So he's really serious? Sounds like a whiny little liberal to me.




(....stirring the pot....)

Yes, he should be posting HERE





.

[jimnyc]

So he's really serious? Sounds like a whiny little liberal to me.




(....stirring the pot....)

He argues with Kathianne.
Kathianne called him a liberal.
He demands apology.

Comes to me and demands I make her apologize
Demands I take a form of action

Leaves board because he gets neither
returns to board
Starts with demands and libel talk again

----

I WANT him to sue me, which he would need to do in order to begin anything. PLEASE DO IT. No attorney in either country would touch the case. And if they did, they only want his $$$. With zero damages of ANY form whatsoever, the case is literally dead before it got off the ground. He is OK with me going to a legal board for an opinion, but doesn't want me to mention to the attorneys that he has no damages. Wait until I tell them that the parties involved don't even know one another, nor does anyone else on the board, and no real names for identification are being used! That's 2 portions of libel out the window. And calling someone a liberal is no different than calling them an asshole, or another disparaging term (disparaging is in the eye of the beholder, although nowhere in the world is it truly a disparaging term).

[indago]

You're stirring, of course.

I have no 'hypocrisy' to 'fess up' to. Utter bilge.

You do have hypocrisy to fess up to, and you DO NOT have the moral high ground here...



.

[Black Diamond]

So he's really serious? Sounds like a whiny little liberal to me.




(....stirring the pot....)

Libelous......

[Perianne]

It's miserable when you know something bad is gonna happen but there is nothing you can do to prevent it.

This thread makes me sad.

[Tyr-Ziu Saxnot]

Yes, he should be posting HERE





.

And just what the hell do you contribute here that even matters?
Thats your life, stir that pot and eat it .--Tyr

[jimnyc]

It's miserable when you know something bad is gonna happen but there is nothing you can do to prevent it.

This thread makes me sad.

Some of us stated to you that we would end the thread. One did just that, while I watched the accusations continue and continue. Don't worry, it ends today. I have the scenario as we experienced it here on a legal board. I will get a few responses and post them here with a link. END of story. If some can't deal with what attorneys state about the issue, well then that's too damn bad. But we all know already what they will tell us, as everyone here has already agreed no libel has taken place - 'cept for one person. If he still wants to believe as much, even after an attorney has chimed in, then that's his business. He can then take it to a legal board of his choice if he doesn't like it, but that'll be the end of it here.

[jimnyc]

In other words, we can be insulting jerk offs, but if it brings DAMAGES to the other person, IN REAL LIFE...

Opinion and Fair Comment Privileges

The right to speak guaranteed by the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution includes the right to voice opinions, criticize others, and comment on matters of public interest. It also protects the use of hyperbole and extreme statements when it is clear these are rhetorical ploys. Accordingly, you can safely state your opinion that others are inept, stupid, jerks, failures, etc. even though these statements might hurt the subject's feelings or diminish their reputations. Such terms represent what is called "pure opinions" because they can't be proven true or false. As a result, they cannot form the basis for a defamation claim.

This is not to say that every statement of opinion is protected. If a statement implies some false underlying facts, it could be defamatory. For example, stating that "in my opinion, the mayor killed her husband" is not likely to be a protected opinion. Couching false statements of fact as opinion or within quotes from other sources generally won’t protect you either. Nor will trying to cover yourself by saying that a politician “allegedly” is a drug dealer, or that your neighbor said the politician “is a drug dealer,” or that in your opinion, the politician is a drug dealer. A reader may well assume you have unstated facts to base your conclusion on, and it would be a defamatory statement if the implied facts turn out to be false.

[jimnyc]

So I posted this on a legal board I've belonged to for like 13 years. I had also sent a PM to an attorney that specializes in libel/slander/defamation to get his take on the issue. This is what I posted, and this is the 3 responses thus far. The last one being that of the attorney I mention. Don't get hung up on the "remotely", as he's an attorney, and likely won't put things in absolutes. If he can dig up citations, he will.

I own a message board with similar formatting to this one, and it's politically based. Obviously, it ends up being conservative beliefs versus liberal beliefs.

One of our moderators called one of the members a "liberal". This member is in fact clearly a conservative, and the moderator likely did write it to piss this guy off. Now he is claiming over and over that he has been libeled.

The members of this board, similar to this one, use "usernames" and no one is identifiable. The member claims his reputation has been harmed, even though his reputation is based off of a username he uses on a couple of political based forums.

Can calling someone a liberal, when they are clearly a conservative, rise to the level of "libel"?

(before you ask, yes this is serious. As owner, I'm only asking to put an argument to bed, and of course to protect myself).

Thanks much in advance!!!

Here is a link to the Digital Media Law Project's page on defamation laws in New York:

http://www.dmlp.org/legal-guide/new-york-defamation-law

http://www.dmlp.org/legal-guide/new-york-defamation-law

There you can find a wealth of information on the law and related case law regarding both your and your members' liability for defamation.

Personally, I'd tell the guy that by threatening to sue over that statement he was acting like a sniveling liberal, but that's poor legal advice and I'm a bit of a loose canon when it comes to politics.

Not remotely. Break out the banhammer.

Well, maybe remotely.

I seem to remember an odd old case over liberal/conservative labels that led to a defamation suit, although the facts of the case differed in essential ways. I will try to locate it.

But I tend to agree with the others that, although nothing can prevent the forum member from suing (other than sanity), under the circumstances you describe it would be difficult if not impossible for the conservative anonymous poster on your message board to base a successful lawsuit on claims he was defamed by being called a liberal.

The link to the Digital Media Law Project site provided by single317dad is a good one.

Thanks for the private message, jimnyc.

http://forum.freeadvice.com/libel-sl...rd-617781.html

[DLT]

Really ? Well, the obviously easiest, quickest way to defuse the situation would be to apologise. Thus far, she's refused to. That refusal has dragged this nonsense on and on.



Other people are responsible for their views, AND where they lead. As I've said .. with freedom, comes responsibility.



Why WOULD anything happen to me ?? I AM JUSTIFIED. Any 'action' taken would've been an enormous travesty.



More to the point, ideally it shouldn't even arise in the first place. However, when standards fall below a certain point, then it's only human nature to judge. And in my case, since I've been the butt of someone else's ill-conceived stupidity, I am more than justified in taking a stand on it.



Well, one or two, anyway .. on that, I can relate in my limited way.



But - did you serve so that this 'right' could be abused ?

How far do you take that, anyway ? From little acorns, mighty oaks do grow. Hitler exercised freedom of speech to ultimately create conditions that allowed a tyranny to flourish, culminating in the Jewish Holocaust, with six million dead !

With freedom, comes responsibility. The responsibility is to not use freedom in such a way that needless harm comes of it.



Well, I've done something. I've not been silent in the face of deplorable conduct.



I'm definitely noticing that !



And there I was, thinking that the Brits and Americans were allies ? What did I miss ?



Let's say that I've learned a lot recently .. and leave it at that. Except for just the one point -- since the British have different ideas about common decency to Americans, and as I'm on an American forum, AND as nobody is willing to learn anything from me on that score, like, say, how NOT to libel .... well. Maybe I should 'do in Rome as the Romans do' .. ?

Right. Anyone can call anyone else a liberal, a leftie, or whatever here on American forums. Oh wait....you can't call someone a queer, a fag, a lesbo, etc., at most forums (run by lefties). And you can't use the "N" word on most forums (run by lefties). And if you dare post something about Hillary's cankles at one particular forum I know of, they'll perma-ban you...lol. But here, it's no biggie.

Just AS the issue of gun ownership is a big "no-no" deal on the Brit forum....the issue of calling or being called a liberal on American forums is a non-issue. Different culture, different mentality/mindset.

[DLT]

Don't shut it down yet, Drummond hasn't yet fessed up to his hypocrisy...

You're not helping. Do you really want to "go there"? Cause....in the immortal words of the Doc, I'm your huckleberry .....or can be...with very little encouragement needed.