Judge reopens Covington Catholic teen's $250 million lawsuit against Washington Post
By: By Valerie Richardson - The Washington Times - Monday, October 28, 2019
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
A federal judge in Kentucky has reopened the $250 million defamation case filed by a Covington Catholic student against The Washington Post after dismissing it in July, allowing the lawsuit to proceed but narrowing its focus.
U.S. District Judge William Bertelsman agreed to permit discovery on three of 33 allegedly libelous statements in The Post’s coverage of the Jan. 18 incident pertaining to teenager Nicholas Sandmann . The Post has insisted that its reporting was fair and accurate.
All three flagged statements from the newspaper’s coverage refer to Omaha Nation elder Nathan Phillips being blocked or impeded by Nicholas , a student at Covington Catholic High School, during their viral encounter at the Lincoln Memorial stairs.
“ The Court will adhere to its previous rulings as they pertain to these statements except Statements 10, 11, and 33, to the extent that these three statements state that plaintiff ‘blocked’ Nathan Phillips and ‘would not allow him to retreat,’” Judge Bertelsman said in his Monday order.
“Suffice to say that the Court has given this matter careful review and concludes that ‘justice requires’ that discovery be had regarding these statements and their context. The Court will then consider them anew on summary judgment,” he said.
Attorney Todd V. McMurtry, who represents the Sandmann family with attorney L. Lin Wood, called the judge’s order a “huge victory.”
“The Sandmann family and our legal team are grateful that Judge Bertelsman has allowed the case to proceed,” Mr. McMurtry said in an email. “ The Court ’s ruling preserves the heart of the Nicholas Sandmann’s claims. We can consider this a huge victory and look forward to initiating discovery against the Washington Post.”
The Sandmann attorneys have also filed separate $275 million defamation lawsuits against CNN and NBCUniversal for their coverage of the incident. Both media organizations have also denied defaming the Covington teen and filed motions to dismiss.
Nicholas was portrayed initially on social media as harassing and blocking Mr. Phillips until lengthier video showed the older man approaching the group of Covington Catholic boys and wading into their cheer circle as they waited for their bus to return to Kentucky.
Some of those who accused Nicholas of bullying and “smirking” at Mr. Phillips later apologized. The Diocese of Covington in Covington, Kentucky, issued an apology to the boys after initially saying that they would be subject to discipline, including expulsion.
The three statements identified by the court were:
A quote in three articles from Mr. Phillips saying that Nicholas “just blocked my way and wouldn’t allow me to retreat,” a statement attributed to Mr. Phillips saying that the teen “was blocking him from moving,” and a tweet using the quote from Mr. Phillips saying that Nicholas “just blocked my way and wouldn’t allow me to retreat.”
In his July 26 dismissal, Judge Bertelsman said that the older man had a First Amendment right to “offer his subjective point of view, and the Post had a right to report it.”
A spokesperson for The Washington Post declined to comment.
“ Nicholas Sandmann deserves his day in court against WaPo. Now he will get it,” Mr. Wood tweeted.
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It's been a good week for news! ISIS leader killed, Dow doubles under Trump and now this!
Good luck Nick!
Most definitely hope the young man wins his case(s)!
It's not an easy case to win, but Ya, I'm with him too. It would be so well deserved!
Yep
He certainly deserves to win this case. I’m glad it’s reopened. The Bezos Post sucks!
this chart shows the stock market gain, as a percentage of what it was when they took office , of various presidents. In this case Clinton and Obama and Bush II and Trump are all compared as of their 33rd month in office. Trump's gain of 36.4% is third out of the four.
This post John, is what is known as a "conversation stopper", well done!
It's called progressive obstruction. There is about five here playing the same game.
You’re right on about that. It’s sad too.
And this has anything to do with the Nicholas Sandman case pray tell?
Vic said the Dow has doubled under Trump. Maybe he will tell us what kind of cherry picking he is doing since the stock market is up 36% under Trump.
That would depend on my starting point right? In 2010 it was only 10,000 odd points, right? And that was viewed as success!
Why don't your do your own thread on the economic standings and let this thread get back to its original intent - notification that the case can go forward?
Only one I see doing the cherry picking here is you. The main topic of this seed was about Nicholas Sandman, not about President Trump.
Thanks for the attempt to downplay Trump's achievement. FACT: The DOW has doubled under Trump. Your economist guru's like Krugman & Zandi predicted economic armageddon under Trump!
You must be using an exotic, heretofore unknown, definition of the word "doubled".
I'm only going back a decade. How about the article John?
36% is not half.
It's double! (Close to triple!) Starting point was 2010
I like this kind of Armageddon!
Trump was president in 2010?
And it’s up about 50% since Nov 2016 when he was elected.
Let's enjoy the moment. May the Post get sued for it's lungs and may Donald Trump have another productive 5 years!
Trump's first year was a zoom for the stock market. The next two, not so much.
Why? In order to find the point where you could say it "doubled"? lol.
As for the article, I wish the kid luck. I think the paper did somewhat mischaracterize what he was doing.
Its ok. Vic is a comedian now.
Don't you know?
No, it isn't.
Not yet on your level, but thanks for the recognition.
Yes, the paper did mischaracterize and confirm what some believe. I never thought the case would get this far. It is a longshot.
And then there’s the Russell 2000, NASDAQ, and S&P 500....
Since inauguration? It is up significantly. Enough with the attempt at derailing.
really compare 18 with 27 and say that 27 isn’t 50% higher.
Completely off topic.
I know trump wasn't president in 2010 so there is no way he can take credit for the DOW going back that far. Pretty sure there was another president in there somewhere....between bush and trump? Or are those 8 years simply lost to time and space?
Here, let me help.
7,000 to 19,000, but trump did it, even though he wasn't even president?
Poor trump, second best to Obama.....yet again.
You brought it up Vic. Not off topic.
36% still isn't half, no matter what kind of weird math you use.
Nope. Nothing about the Nasdaq or S&P. I'm going to delete any further attempts by progressives to derail this discussion. You got 2 warnings
If you simply aren't better off financially under Trump compared to Obama, then you must be doing something wrong.
Trump didn't double the the DOW, that was what was claimed.
I just love how you focus on one poster's claim and ignore the entire article.
Is that because some progressive liberals made complete and utter asses and fools of themselves regarding the incident which prompted the lawsuits?
Your words...
But now that you have been proven wrong, you're going to flag comments about a topic YOU brought up? LOL
And?
B.F.D.
If you are not better off now than then, that's on you.
Seems if you WERE better off, the point wouldn't be so fucking important to you.
41%
The S&P has gone from 2164 to 3047.
They actually created a seed about you through buttheads group.
18. It rose by 9 thus half again or 50% since nov 9, 2016
Off topic John?????
Vic brought it up in the first comment.
So? Again, if you're going to use that logic, where's the comments on ISIS and on good news?
thats different. As in bad news for them and good for real Americans. Can’t talk about that.
Simple question for you John. Which would you rather have? 49.4% of 7550 or 36.4% of 19,762?
Here's a hint. 3729 or 7193.............you're welcome.
It would be a valid argument if the dow was 7k when trump took office, which it wasn't.
............................you're welcome.
NO thank you. Excuse me there Mr. Frost but John was using percentage increase. When Mr. Obama took office, the DOW was 7550. When Mr. Trump took office, it was 19,762. The increases I posted are a percentage of those starting numbers. Now, you were saying.................
The problem appears to be liberal math.
Remember that many of them think that budget increases smaller than requested were actually budget cuts.
"Remember that many of them think that budget increases smaller than requested were actually budget cuts."
Bingo.
Liberal math says that 36% is not half of anything. What math do the cons use? The kind that says 36% is half. I feel sorry for you, I really do.
And I almost feel sorry for folks who can take one sentence made by a commenter and talk incessantly about it, even if it has nothing to do with the article they are posting under.
I DO feel sorry for folks whose lives are so miserable that they aren't doing better now than 4 years ago and have nothing better to do than bitch about their sorry lot in life.
Vic brought the subject of the stock market up by claiming it has "doubled" under Trump.
I posted one chart that debunked that and I would have been willing to leave it at that. Vic persisted, which led me to make additional comments.
On January 22, 2018 the stock market was at 26, 214. Today, 21 months later it is 27,090.
The stock market has gained 3% or so since the beginning of Trump's second year in office, which is getting close to two years.
gee, that is swell, JR.
And if you bother to notice, my comment wasn't directed to you, now was it?
If you bought a stock for 20 dollars and now it is worth 27 you have made a 36% gain.
If you bought a stock for whatever the average was when Clinton took office, after the same 33 months you would have a 43% gain.
The fact that the market is now at 27000 is most relevant compared to what it was when Trump started, not as a raw number.
Your math doesnt make any sense.
You make it sound like no one has to buy stocks, as if they are given to them.
If you bought stocks at a price that reflected an average of what the market was when Trump took office, you have made a 36% gain. Based on the same criteria Clinton and Obamas gains were better.
It wasn’t when Obama was elected or took office either.
Nick Sandmann was tried and convicted in the left-wing courts of news and social media before all of the facts were known. They ridiculed and scorned him. They deliberately tried to ruin his reputation while defending the elderly Indian who initiated the confrontation.
All Nathan Phillips needed to do was turn around and walk away. There is plenty of space on that plaza for hundreds of people. Instead, he continued to approach the students while loudly banging his drum in Nick's face. If he felt threatened by a group of happy high school kids waiting for their bus, he's got unaddressed issues.
I hope Nick wins his cases.
That day on this site was something else.
Even after the exculpatory video came out, the progressive lynch mob just plowed right on attacking the kids.
And they say they don't attack kids.
An adult was harassing a kid and it's the kid's fault because of a MAGA hat....good grief.
I hope he wins the whole enchilada.
To some people, even the underage are fair game just as long as it advances their own political agenda. Hope young Mr Sandman takes them to the cleaners on this and wins!
I agree I’m full. I hope his lawyers win vs all the media they sued. Especially the Post and CNN.
This kid was treated badly and deserves justice.
Yeah, but he doesn't deserve a quarter billion dollars worth of "justice".