12-21-2023, 03:18 PM
(12-21-2023, 01:28 PM)GMDino Wrote: I'd disagree with this take because the law is there for a reason but defamation is not easy to prove, and also I'd wager most cases are not as politically charged as this one.
Defamation is hard to prove, but is it getting easier? Take the Depp/Heard case. A large number of people were surprised at the verdict as they believed the burden for proving defamation was not met. You have to prove the person lied, knew they were lying and did so with malicious intent. I didn't follow the Rudy trial so I can't speak to the evidence. In any event, my sole issue is not with the verdict, it's with the amount of damages awarded.
Quote:In this case politics gets involved because of what Rudy said about the victims and what their job was.
And, again, because he was lying about election integrity I'd say the case was of a little more importance and worthy of being tried.
At no time have I made, or even insinuated, the argument that the case should not have been tried. Even if the case was complete garbage the plaintiffs have a right to file suit and bring the case to court.
Quote:Also he could have tried to settle as many others in the list I provided did. He took a risk and lost.
Yeah, you're gonna want to be careful with this line of thinking. It's literally no different than saying a criminal defendant should get a heavier sentence for not taking the plea deal they were offered and instead went to trial. They took a risk and loss after all, using your own words. Punishing someone for exercising their right to a fair trial is anathema to our system of justice.
Quote:I don't know what the "right" number is. No one in this thread has provided an answer to that either. So this is the number for now, which I'm sure will be lowered on appeal.
No one can know, because none of us are privy to all the evidence. What we can do is compare past judgments awarded to people in other civil cases. When the numbers in this case absolutely dwarf settlements for people being killed by negligence, or outright murder, I don't think we need to know all the details of the Rudy case to comfortably call bullshit on the numbers awarded in this instance.
