Media Criticism, Political Commentary, Science And Society

Mark Steyn And Me

18 Comments

Happy holidays to us. The appellate court basically mooted the flawed rulings against us from last summer, and the new judge (who actually seems to understands the law and the respective cases) will rehear them. Thanks to ACLU, the media organizations and others for their amicus briefs which, while they didn’t address the merits of the case, were helpful in getting this decision. I suspect that it won’t be a happy holiday for Professor Mann.

[Update a while later]

What’s amusing about this is that Mann sort of screwed himself by amending his complaint against us after we’d filed our appeal. That gave the appellate court an excuse to just pass it back to the Superior Court, with the new judge who will likely be much less sympathetic to him.

18 thoughts on “Mark Steyn And Me”

  5. Rand, I am with you bro, but my Momma from the Autonomous Region of Vojvodina* was concerned about the Evil Eye.

    Please don’t publicize your good fortune until it is a “done deal.” I know this is an old-country superstition, but I just want things to go right for you.

    *What is Vojvodina? It is the best agricultural land on the planet. And yes, people from there believe in the Evil Eye, that you should not “tempt Fate” by speaking too openly about good fortune. Rand, I really, really want this to go well for you, but I can’t help it, this superstition is in my cultural heritage.

    1. Not sure what you mean. The remand to the Superior Court judge is in fact a “done deal.” The case isn’t over, but I see no reason not to celebrate this legal victory. It’s the first one we’ve had.

  6. But Jim and Lying-Guy said you were screwed… Oh well, their messiah is in Hawaii. Happy Holiday’s for the rest of us!

    1. I haven’t read any of the rulings, but it sounds like the amended complaint resets the calendar for SLAPP hearings. The Judge will likely calendar that next, and see where it goes.

      The issues won’t change much.

      1. The issues don’t have to change at all. Mann has no case, and the previous judge was a dolt who didn’t understand the law (which was what the appellate court implied with their ruling).

        1. I thought both you and Steyn were lathering for a trial so that you
          could subpoena all of Mann’s records and make this the “Scientific Trial of the Century”?

          I guess you aren’t interested in taking the core issues to trial

  10. Okay, leaving aside the climate issues entirely for just a moment …

    The ACLU and the governing bodies of the D.C. crafted a rule to prevent authorities from abusing defamation law to “punish” critics via lengthy litigation. The abuse is known as SLAPP (Strategic Lawsuites Against Public Participation) and the prevention rule is “anti-Slapp”.

    The authorities’ goal in a SLAPP is to tie up the “public” in expense and red tape over years of filings, depositions, hearings, mediations, etc. For the duration of the process the “public” is advised to avoid, if not actively prohibited from, any further remark on the authority.

    Mann filed suit when, two years ago? And for whatever duration this has been going on the fight has been, so far, over whether or not the Mann action is a SLAPP, or a reasonable complaint of defamation? We really haven’t got to the cause, yet?

    Whatever the state of the case, the INTENDED EFFECTIVENESS of the D.C. ‘anti-SLAPP’ law, to simplify and shorten the process and burden on the courts of SLAPP suits, has been demonstrated to be immeasurably small. Had there been no Anti-SLAPP law the time could have been used to actually litigate the claim. Given the anti-SLAPP process all the time so far invested has simply dragged out the duration (and cost) of the dispute. Exactly the opposite of the projected effect.

    Sort of like the effect of human-released CO2 on tropospheric temperatures and tree ring thickening, I suppose… Unintended consequences.

    Reality, and Theory, and the divergence problem pertaining to.

    1. Well, it’s not quite the bad. It’s only been fourteen months since the suit was filed, and things were delayed due to a judge who didn’t seem to understand either the law or the individual cases. We’re hoping things will be back on track now.

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