Dominion's $1.6B Defamation Lawsuit Against Fox News Going to Trial

[Mr._Clark]

It will be interesting to see how this plays out.

>>>A judge in Delaware has ordered a jury trial in Dominion Voting Systems’ blockbuster lawsuit against Fox News, setting the stage for one of the most consequential defamation decisions against an American media company in decades. . . .

Delaware Superior Court Judge Eric Davis rejected Fox’s attempt to throw out the suit ahead of trial, and he ruled that Dominion has proven the first elements of their defamation claim: namely, that the network’s statements about Dominion and the 2020 election were false.

But he ruled that a jury must decide whether Fox operated with actual malice.

“The evidence developed in this civil proceeding demonstrates that is CRYSTAL clear than none of the Statements relating to Dominion about the 2020 election are true. Therefore, the Court will grant summary judgment in favor of Dominion on the element of falsity,” the ruling read.<<<

Judge sends Dominion’s $1.6 billion lawsuit against Fox News to trial

A judge in Delaware has ordered a jury trial in Dominion Voting Systems’ blockbuster lawsuit against Fox News, setting the stage for one of the most consequential defamation decisions against…

thehill.com

Here's a brief discussion of "actual malice" in this context:

>>>In The New York Times Co. v. Sullivan, 376 U.S. 254 (1964) . . . the Supreme Court held that for a public official to succeed on a defamation claim, the public official plaintiff must show that the false, defaming statements were said with "actual malice." . . . The Sullivan court stated that "actual malice" means that the defendant said the defamatory statement "with knowledge that it was false or with reckless disregard of whether it was false or not." The Sullivan court also held that when the standard is actual malice, the plaintiff must prove actual malice by "clear and convincing" evidence, rather than the usual burden of proof in a civil case, which is the preponderance of the evidence standard. . . .<<<

defamation

www.law.cornell.edu

 

[shadyJ]

John Stewart interviews a lawyer who teaches defamation law, and she thinks the Dominion case is solid. Interesting discussion.

 

[lovinthehd]

It's time to bring this travesty of a "news" organization down. They've been a pox for far too many years.

 

[Swerd]

It's time to bring this travesty of a "news" organization down. They've been a pox for far too many years.

Yes … Faux has been a pox … for far too many years.

I only hope that the fines they pay, in legal penalties and loss of advertising revenue, is actually enough to force them to change. And that goes for Faux News as well as all their imitators.

 

[ryanosaur]

Yes … Faux has been a pox … for far too many years.

I only hope that the fines they pay, in legal penalties and loss of advertising revenue, is actually enough to force them to change. And that goes for Faux News as well as all their imitators.

When dealing with these organizations that are all-in on gaslighting their base the way Fox, Newsmax, etc. do, how do you teach them ALL that they need to change?
We've seen time and again how willfully ignorant these organizations seemingly keep themselves from reality in that they are all about spreading alternative "fact" as their brand.
As long as there are alternative-fact politicians, and voters who only believe what suits their personal narrative being pandered to by these politicians and "news-ish" propaganda organizations, we will continue to have these problems.

Is this really all because of Gingrich?

 

[Teetertotter?]

The RIGHT wing has no shame, decency, Christian Values, and no COMMON SENSE for the common good in America. They want a totalitarian government.......PERIOD

 

[Swerd]

When dealing with these organizations that are all-in on gaslighting their base the way Fox, Newsmax, etc. do, how do you teach them ALL that they need to change?
We've seen time and again how willfully ignorant these organizations seemingly keep themselves from reality in that they are all about spreading alternative "fact" as their brand.
As long as there are alternative-fact politicians, and voters who only believe what suits their personal narrative being pandered to by these politicians and "news-ish" propaganda organizations, we will continue to have these problems.

Is this really all because of Gingrich?

It's because of Roger Ailes, not Gingrich.

Ailes was a young political staffer for Nixon in the early 70s. He witnessed Watergate and all it's aftermath. But he came to the highly unusual conclusion that Nixon was innocent of all charges, and was railroaded into resigning by newspapers with biased & false agendas. That motivated him to create Faux News, dedicated to the idea that news from organizations with biased & false agendas must be countered with news from organizations with the opposing biased & false agendas. He was heavily aided by two major reversals to long-standing Federal Communications Commission (FCC) policies during the Reagan administration:

1. The FCC rules requiring balanced news reporting, the so-called 'Fairness Doctrine', was eliminated.
2. Also eliminated were FCC rules that prevented ownership of multiple radio or TV stations in one locale.

Without those changes, Faux News would have never been possible. None of that anticipated another change to news broadcasting – the advent of cable TV. The FCC rules only applied to broadcast radio or TV over the airwaves. Cable TV and now, internet operations, were unanticipated by the FCC when it was first created.

I must also add that while Cable TV was developing in the 80s & 90s, FM radio came to dominate over the much older AM radio. All those under used AM radio stations, with their FCC approved broadcast licenses, suddenly became available cheap. The newly enabled false news organizations snapped up these stations for a song. They didn't have to pay for reporters and their expenses, they only needed talk radio blow hards with a microphone. And that's how we got such liars like Rush Limbaugh – the now toothless FCC could do nothing to stop them.

 

[Mr._Clark]

This is going from bad to worse for Fox:

>>>The judge overseeing Dominion Voting Systems’ massive defamation case against Fox News said Wednesday that he plans to appoint an outside attorney to investigate whether the right-wing network lied to the court and withheld key evidence, and sanctioned Fox’s attorneys over the matter.

“I am very concerned … that there have been misrepresentations to the court. This is very serious,” Delaware Superior Court Judge Eric Davis said Wednesday at a pretrial hearing in Wilmington, where he repeatedly expressed exasperation and frustration with Fox’s attorneys. . . .

“I’m very uncomfortable right now,” Davis said, after dressing down Fox’s lawyers from the bench.

The special master will look into what sanctions might be appropriate against Fox, including potentially instructing jurors in the case that Fox inappropriately blocked Dominion from obtaining key evidence.<<<

https://www.cnn.com/2023/04/12/media/fox-news-dominion-special-master/index.html

 

[mtrycrafts]

..., and sanctioned Fox’s attorneys over the matter.

...

Is that a hefty fine for the attorneys or something more serious when a layer is sanctioned.

 

[lovinthehd]

LOL Faux News just can't break off the nonsense tit. Nuclear warming?

 

[Mr._Clark]

Is that a hefty fine for the attorneys or something more serious when a layer is sanctioned.

It appears to me that the full extent of the sanctions will ultimately depend on what the judge decides based on the findings of the special master. I suspect the judge will order Fox to pay Dominion for at least some of their attorney's fees, but this might come later.

The gist of it is that the judge wants to drop the hammer on Fox's lawyers, but he wants the special master to investigate first so he knows what size hammer to use.

 

[Verdinut]

It appears to me that the full extent of the sanctions will ultimately depend on what the judge decides based on the findings of the special master. I suspect the judge will order Fox to pay Dominion for at least some of their attorney's fees, but this might come later.

The gist of it is that the judge wants to drop the hammer on Fox's lawyers, but he wants the special master to investigate first so he knows what size hammer to use.

I hope its a kind of sledgehammer. IMO, they should have lost their operating license.

 

[Mr._Clark]

Is that a hefty fine for the attorneys or something more serious when a layer is sanctioned.

The failures on the Fox side seem somewhat odd to me. The Fox lawyers are not yahoos (in contrast to many of Trump's lawyers), and I wouldn't expect them to make these kinds of mistakes (AKA "major F ups"). Fox may have been playing hide the ball with their own lawyers, which is ALWAYS a really, really bad idea.

 

[mtrycrafts]

... they should have lost their operating license.

At a minimum.

 

[mtrycrafts]

LOL Faux News just can't break off the nonsense tit. Nuclear warming?

What clowns. Now a shareholder is suing fox.

 

[Swerd]

Fox settles with Dominion before the $1.6 billion lawsuit gets going. Fox agreed to pay only $787.5 million.

Settlement reached in Fox vs Dominion lawsuit

Fox News will pay more than $787 million to Dominion Voting Systems after the sides hammered out a last-minute settlement Tuesday in the explosive defamation case launched against the right-wing network.

www.cnn.com

https://www.washingtonpost.com/media/2023/04/18/dominion-fox-trial/
I wonder if Fox will have to publicly apologize for it's repeated lies. Will heads roll at Fox? Will advertisers abandon them?

 

[lovinthehd]

Fox settles with Dominion before the $1.6 billion lawsuit gets going. Fox agreed to pay only $787.5 million.

Settlement reached in Fox vs Dominion lawsuit

Fox News will pay more than $787 million to Dominion Voting Systems after the sides hammered out a last-minute settlement Tuesday in the explosive defamation case launched against the right-wing network.

www.cnn.com

https://www.washingtonpost.com/media/2023/04/18/dominion-fox-trial/
I wonder if Fox will have to publicly apologize for it's repeated lies. Will heads roll at Fox? Will advertisers abandon them?
View attachment 61490

Well there's still the other lawsuit as well. Will it hurt Fox enough to stop what they have been doing for years? Doubtful. Even with these lawsuits they haven't stopped let alone even admitted it on their programs, have they?

 

[Swerd]

Settlement reached in Fox vs Dominion lawsuit

Fox News will pay more than $787 million to Dominion Voting Systems after the sides hammered out a last-minute settlement Tuesday in the explosive defamation case launched against the right-wing network.

www.cnn.com

On-air claims about Dominion Voting Systems were false, Fox News says in statement
From CNN's Jon Passantino

Fox News has issued a statement on its settlement with Dominion Voting Systems acknowledging that some of the right-wing network's on-air statements about Dominion were false.

“We are pleased to have reached a settlement of our dispute with Dominion Voting Systems. We acknowledge the Court’s rulings finding certain claims about Dominion to be false. This settlement reflects FOX’s continued commitment to the highest journalistic standards. We are hopeful that our decision to resolve this dispute with Dominion amicably, instead of the acrimony of a divisive trial, allows the country to move forward from these issues," the statement said.

 

[lovinthehd]

Settlement reached in Fox vs Dominion lawsuit

Fox News will pay more than $787 million to Dominion Voting Systems after the sides hammered out a last-minute settlement Tuesday in the explosive defamation case launched against the right-wing network.

www.cnn.com

On-air claims about Dominion Voting Systems were false, Fox News says in statement
From CNN's Jon Passantino

Fox News has issued a statement on its settlement with Dominion Voting Systems acknowledging that some of the right-wing network's on-air statements about Dominion were false.

Do their viewers read such? Are they required to repeat that on air in each program the lies were spread on?

 

[Swerd]

Well there's still the other lawsuit as well. Will it hurt Fox enough to stop what they have been doing for years? Doubtful. Even with these lawsuits they haven't stopped let alone even admitted it on their programs, have they?

Yes, there is still a lawsuit filed by Smartmatic against Fox, for $2.7 billion. And Dominion Voting Systems also has lawsuits against Newsmax and Oan, as well as Rudolph Giuliani, Syney Powell, and the My Pillow guy. None of them have a chance of defending themselves, much less do they have the same deep pockets as Fox.