Denial of Dismissal Only First Battle in Long War of Scott v. Argus Leader
Some Republicans are celebrating Judge Cathleen Caldwell’s decision denying the Argus Leader’s motion to dismiss in Dan Scott v. Argus Leader.
The SD War College has a story on the decision, where some commenters see this as some sort of “victory” against the “liberal” Argus Leader.
Here’s my take that I left in the comments:
Before you start celebrating, my Republican friends, there’s a lot of law yet to play out. The Argus will not settle and if they lose at trial will appeal as far as they can take it. That’s what major media companies do in First Amendment cases like this.Stay tuned.
My guess is that Gannett won’t be writing a check in this case. Scott is going to have to show actual malice as a public figure, which is really, really tough to prove. Janklow is an excellent lawyer but he isn’t exactly up against patsies on the other side either.
SDWC also has a .pdf of the decision: Read all 11 pages here : danscott.pdf.
Technorati Tags: Bill Janklow, Gannett, Argus Leader, Randell Beck, First Amendment, defamation
Todd Epp
2 Comments
View Printer Friendly Version
Email Article to Friend
Reader Comments (2)
So is it a coincidence that the Argus ran a four-day series on the "Janklow 36" the same week that this decision was due to be released?
Todd, don't you get it? The only people who have a right to free speech are the ultra right radio and TV people. Rush, Hannity, etc.