“I didn’t sue them because they exposed $77 million worth of misspending. He applauds them for doing that,” he said. “The suit is about defamation.”
And that this “puts the journalists in their proper place” is just a unintended coincidence. I hope other journalists in Mississippi wake up and show some backbone.
Well, their mistake was making public comments that he was guilty of embezzlement. There’s no real evidence of that, and he hasn’t been charged with anything. That’s not to say that he wasn’t involved, but unfortunately for the news organization those statements opened the door for this law suit.
It’s a bad look but he’s not governor anymore so it doesn’t really hurt him to sue them. He doesn’t even have to win. Hell, he doesn’t even have to get his case in front of a jury. If they turn over the documents the judge is asking for, it will do irreparable damage to their news organization.
Way to go mississippi, what a disappointment
Thanks God for m… Wait!
I think “Mississippi Goddamn” might be the phrase you were looking for.
Phil Ochs had a good song about it too.
And here’s to the government of Mississippi
In the swamp of their bureaucracy they’re always bogging down
And criminals are posing as the mayors of the towns
And they hope that no one sees the sights
And no one hears the sounds
And the speeches of the governor are the ravings of a clown
Oh, here’s to the land you’ve torn out the heart of
Mississippi, find yourself another country to be part of
And here’s to the laws of Mississippi
Congressmen will gather in a circus of delay
While the Constitution’s drowning in an ocean of decay
Unwed mothers should be sterilized, I’ve even heard them say
Yes, corruption can be classic in the Mississippi way
Oh, here’s to the land you’ve torn out the heart of
Mississippi, find yourself another country to be part of
Worth it
That’s easy for you to say when you’re not the one headed to jail
Well, the people putting her in jail… the judge, the prosecutor, those who spent that federal welfare money poorly… Karma is a BITCH
There is no prosecutor involved here. She is being civilly sued for defamation. She might go to jail if she defies a subpoena to turn over internal records that include confidential sources.
Overall it seems like the ex governor might actually have a leg to stand on in court, but the bar for defamation is high. I think it’s unlikely that, if this went to court, the ex governor would win. I expect this to be settled before actually being argued in court, though.
He was/is a public figure, I thought that made defamation a lot harder to claim?
You’re right, it does. He’s pretty unlikely to win in court, but lawyers are expensive. I expect they’ll reach a settlement just to avoid paying lawyers. Journalists aren’t known for having deep pockets to pay legal fees, unfortunately.
You just brought that up and I did a quick search says that Mississippi does not have any anti-SLAPP laws… That blows…
He doesn’t have to prove jack shit if the judge is ordering them to turn over their internal documents as part of the case. The judge might look them over, decide there’s nothing relevant, and dismiss the case, but it won’t matter. The damage will already be done because sources will be less likely to trust them in the future.
…what Karma are you even talking about?
I learned that judges in Mississippi are elected and not required to actually be a lawyer or know the law. The story i saw was about an armed off-duty cop who threatened to kill a man and two children who were trying to catch a loose dog and stepped on his property. He called his cop buddies and told them that he was threatened and the cops arrested the man for aggravated assault. He went to trial and the 30 year old judge who’d never practiced law convicted him. It wasn’t overturned until the news started reporting on the situation and exposed what was going on.
And this is why Mississippi has a big problem with brain drain as a state. It’s pretty much a third world country (Outdated terminology, but in terms of quality of life, it is comparable to undeveloped countries).
