The suit against Breitbart is going to bring up a ton of really fun stuff about her and her husband and about that lawsuit they settled. Congratulations Mrs. Sherrod every speech you gave, every statement you’ve made and your husband too is now fair game and will be out in the open for all the country to see.
Expressly false statements like this one:
“It wasn’t all media. It was Fox.” Sherrod said in commenting on President Obama’s remarks on The View blaming the media in part for the story
are really going to play well in court. This is going to print money and attention for Breitbart. So lets repeat my thoughts on this case:
Sucker!
Update: Memeorandum thread here Semi Exit question. Will the left try to use this to energize black voters?
Da Techguy's (no longer backup) Blog 
Surprise – Shirley Sherrod to sue Andrew Breitbart…
…
…and fun stuff about Breitbart as well. She’s aware of a pending slime campaign. If she has nothing to hide, go for it.
Hmmmm.
“Will the left try to use this to energize black voters?”
Does a bear in a Charmin commercial use toilet paper?
As someone with a journalism background and who closely studied libel law, I think Sherrod has an excellent chance of collecting damages from Breitbart, maybe from Fox News, and from any other media outlet, including bloggers, who republished Breitbart’s doctored video.
There is no question that she was defamed by Breitbart’s lie. The only issue is damages. Many people who look at these things spend a lot of time discussing whether someone is a “private figure” or “public figure” for libel law purposes. I don’t think that will matter, as I’ll show.
If you’re a private figure (think Richard Jewell, the man erroneously accused of bombing the Atlanta Olympics), you need only show “negligence” to collect damages for being defamed by a false accusation. If you’re a public figure (think elected official), you must show “reckless disregard for the truth or falsity” of the erroneous statement.
In Breitbart’s case, it’s hard to imagine that a jury would conclude anything else but that he showed the “reckless disregard” required to collect damages under the public-figure standard. He published a doctored tape, and by his own admission he made no effort to authenticate it before doing so.
Bill O’Reilly isn’t any dummy. He apologized to Sherrod, an action that mitigates a damage claim, Breitbart has not apologized. To my knowledge, the “news” side of Fox News has not apologized for showing the doctored clip. If that’s indeed the case, they might come to regret their lack of an apology. Note that the Dept. of Agriculture, the White House, and the NAACP quickly apologized.
You can speculate to your wingnut heart’s content over Sherrod’s motives. They don’t matter. The court won’t care. All that will matter is whether the material was false, whether Breitbart acted with reckless disregard, and whether there are any mitigating factors. The rest is mere blather.
Other wingnuts who re-published Breitbart’s sludge without apology, take note. You could easily be on the list. I, for one, dearly hope you are.
p.s.: You don’t need to show financial harm to collect defamation damages. It helps, but it’s by no means necessary. Oh, and I hope the wingnutosphere is gearing up to hold a telethon for the Breitbart Defense Fund, ’cause his lawyers won’t come cheap.
As the video wasn’t doctored but excepted you have already started with a false premise, but we will see.
datatechguy, it always cracks me up when you wingnuts prattle on about “the rule of law” without knowing a single thing about the law. You’d better go check the “false light” doctrine and its application to the law of defamation. If Sherrod carries it through, your buddy Breitbart is dead meat.
Righteous Lefty,
John Dean doesn’t agree with you. But she can certainly publicize Breitbart for the douche he is…..
Time will tell and one can never tell what a jury will decide but tell you what:
If you live in Massachusetts I would be willing to bet you an inexpensive dinner at the Border Grille & Bar that this blows up in her face, not to mention the Democratic party’s. Or if you prefer Italian I’d be willing to do the Gondola in Leominster or Linguini’s in Marlborough.
That way the loser would have a pleasant dinner and conversation to soften the blow.
My goodness “righteous lefty” is a pompous bleep.
Now now, I’m sure that at the conclusion of the bet (assuming her or she takes it) the Righteous lefty will prove pleasant dinner companion
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