A jury has awarded more than $1.1 million to an Idaho drag performer who accused a far-right blogger of defaming him when she falsely claimed that he exposed himself to a crowd, including children, in 2022.
A jury has awarded more than $1.1 million to an Idaho drag performer who accused a far-right blogger of defaming him when she falsely claimed that he exposed himself to a crowd, including children, during a Pride event in June 2022.
The Kootenai County District Court jury unanimously found Friday that Summer Bushnell defamed Post Falls resident Eric Posey when she posted a doctored video of his performance with a blurred spot that she claimed covered his “fully exposed genitals,” the Coeur D’Alene Press reported.
In reality the unedited video showed no indecent exposure, and prosecutors declined to file charges.
“The judicial system did what needed to be done,” Posey said after the verdict.
jurors asked the court if they could direct Bushnell to take down her posts about Posey and publicly apologize to him. First District Judge Ross Pittman, who presided over the trial, indicated they could not do so.
Compelling speech is a violation of the first amendment.
Yeah, I wish they could force it, but they can't. They might be able to come to an agreement between both parties that if the defendant did XYZ, the plaintiff would reduce damages by X amount.
But it's libel, usually if you are judged guilty of libel, it follows it must be taken down. Otherwise she can be sued again, because it's still libel.
So could they not just push it to state that every additional view that it gets on any platform will require $50,000 of further defamation payments. Thereby making it a much wiser decision to not defame the people?
It's all about the symbolism of being forced by court to apologize. It's a very strong thing for the victim to have as a defense against further slander and libel.
"Jurors awarded Posey $926,000 in compensatory damages for defamation. Because Posey proved that Bushnell knew her allegations were false when she made them or that she made the accusations with reckless disregard for the truth, the jury awarded $250,000 in additional punitive damages."
The compensatory damages are to compensate for lost revenue and such that the defamation may have caused, while punitive damages are additionally to punish for the willful wrongdoing.