We’ve filed two motions to dismiss with prejudice Michael Mann’s lawsuit, both under the DC Anti-SLAPP Act, and for failure to state a claim.
The former is a relatively new law whose purpose is precisely to prevent such harassing lawsuits, and strangle them in the cradle before a defendant has to expend considerable resources on a frivolous case. The latter is a blast at his repeated allegations of malice and intention to harm on our part as though those are facts, with no actual facts to support them, and his own filing containing much to contradict. Obviously, I was quite involved with the preparation of both these briefs. As I’ve said all along, he never had much of a case. National Review and Mark Steyn will probably have something up about theirs tomorrow (they were separate filings, because the situations were different, over different postings, though there is also much in common).
Unfortunately, if these dismissals are granted, there will be no “scientific trial of the twenty-first century” over the hockey stick, but it will get the legal issues out of our hair, and we’ll get to go after him for attorney fees, possibly discouraging any future attempts to muzzle the “deniers.”
[Update a while later]
Just to expand on the issues in the second motion, in order to show malice and reckless disregard for the truth on my/our part, he has to show (among other things) that we didn’t really believe what I wrote about his “exoneration.” His logic seems to be:
a) Various investigations have exonerated me (in my not-so-humble opinion).
b) Simberg claims to have read them, and in fact even linked to them, and yet he still claimed that I was not exonerated.
c) Simberg is obviously lying. Who needs more evidence than that?
He doesn’t seem to consider the possibility that, having read the reports on the investigations, our opinions simply differ on whether or not they really exonerated him. Presumably, a judge will be smarter.
A judge smarter than Mann? Would he even admit such a thing possible? Or will he sue the judge for wrongful dismissal?
Burt Rutan. You could depose Burt Rutan. Or maybe Mr. Rutan is being sued by Dr. Mann?
I’m trying to be an optimist, but my experience with judges is they all think they’re Solomon if they do cut the baby in half.
Ken,
Yes, they still see themselves as the Kings/Queens of their court room.
Good move as you never know what happens when a jury gets a case, even assuming you get a judge with common sense.
Meanwhile the latest IPCC Climate Report has been leaked some interesting findings.
http://www.stopgreensuicide.com/
Lead story from the Second Order Draft: strong evidence for solar forcing beyond TSI now acknowledged by IPCC
Motion to dismiss? I thought you wanted this to go forward for discovery.
Only a fool, or someone with nothing to lose, chooses to tempt fate when the process can be so arbitrary and capricious.
re: failure to state a claim, the copyright case of SCO vs. IBM comes to mind. It went on for years with the plaintiff failing to properly identify the allegedly infringing material, before being dismissed when it developed that SCO didn’t even hold copyright on the allegedly infringed material.
A fool and his (or her) reputation are easily parted. Consider yours shredded, in all aspects, scientific, technical and political. Enjoy your infamy.
That won’t happen, because only a moron would consider it so.