A sad day for free speech.
The climate scientist Michael Mann on Thursday won his defamation lawsuit against Rand Simberg, a former adjunct scholar at the Competitive Enterprise Institute, and Mark Steyn, a contributor to National Review.
The trial transported observers back to 2012, the heyday of the blogosphere and an era of rancorous polemics over the existence of global warming, what the psychology researcher and climate misinformation blogger John Cook called "a feral time."
The six-member jury announced its unanimous verdict after a four-week trial in District of Columbia Superior Court and one full day of deliberation. They found both Mr. Simberg and Mr. Steyn guilty of defaming Dr. Mann with multiple false statements and awarded the scientist $1 in compensatory damages from each writer.
No surprise since the trial took place in Washington D.C. since, as Donald Trump's experience shows, that any well known conservative or libertarian who is not on the left's team is sure to lose in that town. This is very reminiscent of what happened in the pre-Civil Rights south where predominately White juries would render guilty verdicts against Black suspects, Jews, and Civil Rights activists regardless of their race. Except this time the Left has moved the goal posts basing their bigotry and hatred against people who do not think like them, focusing mainly on criminalizing ideas rather than race.
While I am not an attorney, hopefully Mark Steyn and Ran Simberg can appeal. It is my understanding that, as opposed to court decisions based on legal decisions, appeals based on jury verdicts are very accepted in very limited circumstances since they are based on facts. This also demonstrates that the Left has learned how to influence juries and when jurors decide cases like despots then our society and civilization are in big trouble.
PHOTO CREDIT: PIxabay
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