We all remember how that punk former congressman Steve Driehaus sued SBA-List for losing the election because the pro-life group dared to tell the truth about his vote for Obamacare being a vote for taxpayer funded abortion.
And then to make matters worse, a judge who must have been sniffing paint attempted to kill freedom of speech in this country by siding with Driehaus. But SBA didn’t take this lying down. They fought back. And it’s a good thing they did because this is one of the most important lawsuits going on right now. If organizations can be sued like this for advertising against candidates, this country is in big trouble.
Let’s face it, once the big money people figure out they can sue and bankrupt the little money people what do you think will happen.
For the pro-aborts this has everything to do with bankrupting the SBA-List (which has been so effective in recent years) and silencing pro-lifers everywhere.
So finally some good news.
A federal district court in Cincinnati today granted the Susan B. Anthony List’s motion to allow it to appeal the court’s earlier ruling, which had denied the SBA List’s motion for summary judgment. Former Rep. Steve Driehaus has sued the SBA List for defamation and claims that the organization injured his reputation and caused him “loss of livelihood,” presumably because he was voted out of Congress by the people of his district, after it called attention to his vote for the healthcare reform bill.
The SBA List had asked the court to grant it summary judgment against Driehaus’s defamation claims, but the court denied the motion, instead ruling that a trial was needed to determine if defamation occurred. So the SBA List filed a motion asking to appeal that ruling to the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals.
Today, the court granted the SBA List’s motion allowing it to appeal the court’s decision denying summary judgment.
“We are very pleased with this latest action from the court and look forward to arguing our case in the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals,” said Marjorie Dannenfelser president of the Susan B. Anthony List. “In his decision, Judge Black wrote ‘there is substantial ground for difference of opinion’ in our case, and he is certainly right. It is our opinion, and we continue to maintain, first, that former Representative Driehaus voted to allow for taxpayer funding of abortion when he cast his vote for Obamacare, and second, that we have the right to criticize that action under the First Amendment. We now get to make our arguments on the Constitutional questions at the heart of this case before the Court of Appeals. The fact that we have had to expend vast resources to get to this point is an outrage and we hope our fight will spare others from enduring similar baseless claims. We believe that the Court of Appeals will follow other Courts in protecting our First Amendment rights and end this defamation case.”
James Bopp, Jr., who represents the SBA List, stated that he believed this was the right decision. “Other courts have ruled that the speech of groups like the SBA List, who try to educate the public about the votes of their representatives, is not capable of being defamation. We are hopeful that the Sixth Circuit will reach the same decision.”
November 2, 2011 at 11:32 pm
Judge Timothy Black, the judge who allowed Driehaus' ridiculous case
to proceed (and cost SBA a ton in legal fees) was appointed to the
bench by President Obama. Before his appointment, he was president
and director of Planned Parenthood of Cincinnati.
It would be interesting to find out how many staffers in the Obama administration are going on to paid positions with Planned Parenthood,
and how many PP executives are being appointed to positions in
the judiciary and state and federal bureaucracies. I think we'd be
shocked.
November 2, 2011 at 11:54 pm
Thurs. Oct 27 @ Politico Playbook:
"Planned Parenthood Federation of America announced that it has named
Dana Singiser as its Vice President for Public Policy and Government
Relations. She will join PPFA in early December. Singiser currently works
in the White House as Special Assistant to the President for Legislative
Affairs. …Singiser has been with President Obama since his first day in
office… She was a key part of the legislative team that helped pass the
historic health care law…"
Like Judge Black, Dana Singiser is an example of the revolving door
between Planned Parenthood and this administration.
November 3, 2011 at 6:01 pm
Judge Timothy Black ought to have stepped down from the bench for this case, because Judge Black has a vested interest. Jurors are asked to step down from a drug case if they have ever used drugs. A judge corrupted by this kind of involvment with an issue cannot make an unbiased decision. The people at least need and deserve an impartial judge.