"The rabbit's got the gun now," said a lawyer for former Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant, who is trying to force reporter Anna Wolfe to reveal her sources.
  • Treczoks@lemmy.world
    49·
    5 个月前

    “I didn’t sue them because they exposed $77 million worth of misspending. He applauds them for doing that,” he said. “The suit is about defamation.”

    And that this “puts the journalists in their proper place” is just a unintended coincidence. I hope other journalists in Mississippi wake up and show some backbone.

    • IamSparticles@lemmy.zipEnglish
      5·
      5 个月前

      Well, their mistake was making public comments that he was guilty of embezzlement. There’s no real evidence of that, and he hasn’t been charged with anything. That’s not to say that he wasn’t involved, but unfortunately for the news organization those statements opened the door for this law suit.

      It’s a bad look but he’s not governor anymore so it doesn’t really hurt him to sue them. He doesn’t even have to win. Hell, he doesn’t even have to get his case in front of a jury. If they turn over the documents the judge is asking for, it will do irreparable damage to their news organization.

  • ToucheGoodSir@lemy.lol
    1218·
    5 个月前

    Well, the people putting her in jail… the judge, the prosecutor, those who spent that federal welfare money poorly… Karma is a BITCH

    • vortic@lemmy.world
      191·
      5 个月前

      There is no prosecutor involved here. She is being civilly sued for defamation. She might go to jail if she defies a subpoena to turn over internal records that include confidential sources.

      Overall it seems like the ex governor might actually have a leg to stand on in court, but the bar for defamation is high. I think it’s unlikely that, if this went to court, the ex governor would win. I expect this to be settled before actually being argued in court, though.

        • IamSparticles@lemmy.zipEnglish
          6·
          5 个月前

          He doesn’t have to prove jack shit if the judge is ordering them to turn over their internal documents as part of the case. The judge might look them over, decide there’s nothing relevant, and dismiss the case, but it won’t matter. The damage will already be done because sources will be less likely to trust them in the future.

        • vortic@lemmy.world
          3·
          5 个月前

          You’re right, it does. He’s pretty unlikely to win in court, but lawyers are expensive. I expect they’ll reach a settlement just to avoid paying lawyers. Journalists aren’t known for having deep pockets to pay legal fees, unfortunately.

          • Bahnd Rollard@lemmy.world
            3·
            5 个月前

            You just brought that up and I did a quick search says that Mississippi does not have any anti-SLAPP laws… That blows…

    • ShepherdPie@midwest.social
      7·
      5 个月前

      I learned that judges in Mississippi are elected and not required to actually be a lawyer or know the law. The story i saw was about an armed off-duty cop who threatened to kill a man and two children who were trying to catch a loose dog and stepped on his property. He called his cop buddies and told them that he was threatened and the cops arrested the man for aggravated assault. He went to trial and the 30 year old judge who’d never practiced law convicted him. It wasn’t overturned until the news started reporting on the situation and exposed what was going on.

      • ToucheGoodSir@lemy.lol
        7·
        5 个月前

        And this is why Mississippi has a big problem with brain drain as a state. It’s pretty much a third world country (Outdated terminology, but in terms of quality of life, it is comparable to undeveloped countries).