re: George Zimmerman sues Warren, Buttigieg for $265M for Defamation

Any analysis must start with the question “What did they say?”

quote:

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Warren: "My heart goes out to [Martin's mother] @SybrinaFulton and Trayvon's family and friends. He should still be with us today. We need to end gun violence and racism. And we need to build a world where all of our children-especially young Black boys-can grow up safe and free."

Buttigieg: "Trayvon Martin would have been 25 today. How many 25th birthdays have been stolen from us by white supremacy, gun violence, prejudice, and fear?"

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Neither even mentioned Zimmerman. They used an historical event as an opportunity to emphasize a political position.

In general, the law defines defamation as a false and unprivileged statement of fact that is harmful to someone's reputation, and published "with fault," meaning as a result of negligence or malice. Statements of opinion are generally not cognizable as defamation.

In Florida, defamation is a false statement of fact, communicated to a third party, which is meant to hurt the plaintiff's reputation or economic well-being. As far as I can tell, he has pleaded that they acted in political self-interest, NOT with a specific desire to harm a guy that they did not even mention.

Countdown to some (half)wit claiming that an argument against frivolous lawsuits constitutes is “liberal” and a “defense” of Warren and/or Buttigieg. 3...2...1.....



Anyone arguing in favor of this lawsuit is basically saying “I favor allowing lawsuits in which the plaintiff has failed to even stay at a legally-cognizable claim, so long as I do not personally like the defendant.”