About two weeks ago Bryan covered the story of Georgia conservative blogger Andre Walker who had been sued by a Democratic politician for reporting the politicians run-ins with the law:
Roughly three weeks ago a lawsuit alleging defamation against a conservative blogger was filed in the Superior Court of Fulton County, Georgia.
The claim was brought by Georgia Democratic Party Political Director, Rashad Richey, against conservative blogger Andre Walker of Georgia Politics Unfiltered, as well as a number of other named and unnamed Defendants.
In Richey’s complaint, a number of points were cited as evidence of libel and libel per se. Both of these categories fall under the legal umbrella of defamation. The complaint referenced, among other things, blog posts where Walker wrote that Richey had a “history of making poor personal decisions,” that he was a “criminal,” and a “jailbird.”
Walker has answered the complaint saying not only that this lawsuit is without merit, but also that it is an exercise of frivolity, actionable under the Georgia Abusive Litigation Act.
The lawsuit was a classic boomerang, as the legal foundation for the suit was weak and it exposed Political Director’s criminal record to widespread broadcast (I know it showed up in the comments at an Australian blog, I just can’t find the link).
Now the lawsuit has been dropped, as Walker notes on his blog:
A few moments ago, my attorney, John Sparks, sent word that the libel lawsuit filed by Georgia Democratic Party political director Rashad Richey against this site was voluntarily dismissed by the Plaintiff.
Below is a copy of the dismissal, filed in Fulton County Superior Court today.
If only the other Walker blogger were so fortunate. I am confident he will be vindicated, it just will take more time.
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Comments
It was dismissed ‘without prejudice,’ which allows its re-filing.
Right. But the plaintiff would be nuts to refile, based on what we’ve seen.
Yes, but ‘nuts’ is what they do best.
I’d be looking for a way to get my attorney’s fees.
Absolutely. That’s what the GALA is for, as noted.
Can you explain ‘GALA?’ Is it Georgia’s ‘anti-SLAPP’ legislation?
If so, it does not seem to protect against suits of this type, but only suits against someone for speech that is otherwise ‘well grounded in fact and is warranted by existing law or a good faith argument for the modification of existing law.’
For anyone who doesn’t know here is an explanation of what ‘anti-SLAPP’ means in Georgia in particular:
http://www.citmedialaw.org/legal-guide/anti-slapp-law-georgia
Maybe bloggers named ‘Walker’ should change their names.
No, we should do the opposite, we should all change our names to Walker. This is about their intimidation, not about our capitulation and appeasement to them.. Being named Walker is a Badge of Honor and a sign of solidarity !!
I like that even better! 🙂
That’s great news !
It’s too bad that this Georgia Law is not a Federal law, at least not that I know of.. We, the constitutional conservative right must never stop defending ourselves and our Rights of Free thought and the exercise of those Free Thoughts in all Freedom of Speech venues everywhere, be they broadcast, or print media outlets, or internet sites, etc., from these radical hate mongering leftist criminals and so on.
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