Wednesday, September 26, 2018

Supreme Irony


The object lesson to be drawn from the current Brett Kavanaugh Supreme Court confiirmation imbroglio is dripping  full of irony. This irony derives from a previous (1960) Supreme Court decision (New York Times Co. v. Sullivan) that makes it very burdensome for someone in public office to sue successfully for libel or slander. This almost 60-year-old decision puts an almost impossible burden on the plaintiff ... that the defendant had to not only known the allegation was false .. but must have acted with "malice aforethought."  It might seem obvious why some media might issue lies ... but proving motivation is a mile-high hurdle.

Therefore, if Kavanaigh were to survive this Democrat assassination attempt and take his seat on the Supreme Court, he likely couldn't or wouldn't sue Christine Ford, the New Yorker magazine or Michael Avenati. And, even worse, if such a case were to make it back to the Supreme Court, Justice Kavanaugh would likely have to recuse himself from the case.

4 comments:

  1. If his nomination isn't dead in the water, I'll buy you lunch. The problem is his flat denials of any youthful misdeeds, plus the unwillingness of the friend (Judge) to testify on his behalf, under oath. If any of the GOP senators believe the accuser, he is toast. I predict: He withdraws his name, no vote, She writes a book. Looks like the Dems are better at Dirty Tricks than the GOP.

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    1. Never underestimate the value of a woman's tears.

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    2. after watching the day's events, I think I owe you lunch. I would vote in favor and get it over with.

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    3. Never underestimate the tears of a man ...

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