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<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'>A friend who is an attorney alerted me to the following comment; it
predicted precisely the kind of <a href="http://poohsthink.com/?p=869"><font
size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial'>comment just
made </span></font></a>by <st1:PersonName w:st="on">Dale Courtney</st1:PersonName>:<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'>October 11th, 2006 at 10:39 am –John<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'>Brian of the Sheep: “BTW, is everyone aware of the jury award to
the lady in <st1:State w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Florida</st1:place></st1:State>
of $11.3 million for internet post defamation?”<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'>John: The dollar figure made for a great headline, but the facts of the
case are much more mundane. The person who was criticized on the Internet was
not a public figure, unlike, e.g, Tim Dick, so it would have been much easier
for the plaintiff to prove defamation. Not only that, but the person who posted
the critical remarks on the internet represented herself before the court and
offered no defense of herself at trial. No attorney and no defense at all.
Without a response to the charges, the decision of the judge in favor of the
plaintiffs was all but automatic, and, given the guilty verdict and the
plaintiff’s desire to send a message, the jury was happy to accommodate.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'>The jury felt especially free to award a large sum because it knew
that, whatever the amount, the defendant was unable to pay. So the large dollar
figure was purely a symbolic gesture that cost no one anything.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><i><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-weight:bold;font-style:italic'>Of course, the
story will still be useful for ministry businesses who try to antimidate
whistleblowers by threatening SLAPP suits, so I expect the context-free
headline to be repeated far and wide</span></font></i></b>.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'><a href="http://ministrywatchman.com/?p=24#comments"><font size=2
face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial'>http://ministrywatchman.com/?p=24#comments</span></font></a><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'><a href="http://poohsthink.com/?p=871"
title="Permanent Link to Dale Courtney’s Comment Predicted"><font size=2
face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial'>Dale
Courtney’s Comment Predicted</span></font></a><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'><a href="http://poohsthink.com/?cat=36"
title="View all posts in Ligonier's Suit"><font size=2 face=Arial><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial'>Ligonier's Suit</span></font></a><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
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