According to news reports, Shirley Sherrod is planning to file a defamation suit against right-wing smear artist Andrew "Not So" Breitbart for his role in disseminating the partial tape of appearing to make racist remarks. Sherrod, who resigned under pressure from the Agriculture Department, was later proved to be telling a story of her personal redemption and rejection of racism.
Not So Breitbart is infamous for driving smears against ACORN, ultimately forcing them to close shop, and former Obama aide Van Jones. We hope this opens the floodgates to everyone that's been harmed by his malicious work. One lawyer thinks not only Not So is in legal jeopardy, but Fux News may be vulnerable to a lawsuit for eagerly running with the smear:
"Defamation law clearly puts Breitbart in a tough position. He deliberately aired a video that was edited in a way to put Sherrod in a very bad light. Breitbart even said on Fox News that the purpose of the tape was to show that racism existed in the NAACP, even though the speech Sherrod gave was precisely the opposite -- it was about overcoming prejudice and stereotypes. Before the tape, Sherrod was not a public figure for whom a higher legal threshold of 'actual malice' would be required, though in this case it would be hard to say that malice or a reckless disregard to the truth wasn't present.
Fox, by way of offering Breitbart a forum, may be similarly at risk. Under the 'republication' doctrine, Fox may be as liable as Breitbart for recklessly running (and rerunning) the doctored footage."
This should be fun to watch.
(photo: Not So Breitbart looking for his tin-foil hat)
