{"id":34365,"date":"2017-08-04T14:07:28","date_gmt":"2017-08-04T18:07:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sidebarforplaintiffs.naomifein.net\/?p=34365"},"modified":"2017-08-04T14:07:28","modified_gmt":"2017-08-04T18:07:28","slug":"the-aclu-does-stand-up-for-john-oliver","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sidebarforplaintiffs.naomifein.net\/?p=34365","title":{"rendered":"The ACLU does stand-up for John Oliver"},"content":{"rendered":"

I have two items about this inedible defamation lawsuit coal magnate Bob Murray brought against John Oliver. The first is from the ACLU, which filed an amicus<\/em> brief in support of Oliver. The brief is brilliantly funny.<\/p>\n

Source: This Coal Baron\u2019s Lawsuit Against John Oliver Is Plain Nuts<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

And then Kevin Underhill, at his LoweringtheBar, picked up the story and wrote his own brilliantly funny piece about the brilliantly funny ACLU brief.<\/p>\n

You’ll love it and will laugh a lot:<\/em><\/p>\n

Source: Posts from Lowering the Bar for 08\/03\/2017<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

Tidbits:<\/p>\n

A category entitled \u201cAsking for It\u201d might be a good idea, or maybe a \u201cStreisand Effect<\/a>\u201d sub-category of Free Speech. Those come to mind when thinking about Marshall County Coal Co., et al., but really just Robert E. Murray v. John Oliver, which coal executive Bob Murray filed after Oliver made fun of him on the June 18 episode of\u00a0Last Week Tonight<\/a>. Murray accused Oliver, his producers, and HBO of defamation, and even demanded a temporary restraining order preventing further dissemination of Oliver\u2019s statements.<\/em><\/p>\n

Is that going to work? Nope. Is it going to have the opposite effect? Yep.<\/em><\/p>\n

On July 21, HBO (represented by Williams & Connelly) filed an excellent brief opposing the TRO request<\/a>. Is it funny? Well, kind of, but there aren\u2019t that many opportunities for intentional humor in legal briefing, I\u2019m sorry to say. Amicus briefs are a different story, though, and the brief the ACLU filed this week in support of Oliver<\/a> et al. is pretty great.<\/em><\/p>\n

To be honest, any brief that includes a heading like, \u201cAnyone Can Legally Say \u2018Eat Shit, Bob!’\u201d is going to get a good review from me. Doesn\u2019t really matter what else it says. But it\u2019s a great brief overall.<\/em><\/p>\n

Kevin gives you the link to the John Oliver segment. Then he goes on:<\/p>\n

In general, the episode was about the coal industry, the challenges it\u2019s been facing, Donald Trump\u2019s claims that he just loves coal miners, and some things that, according to Oliver, suggest that perhaps Trump and\/or coal-company executives do not always make miners\u2019 best interests a top priority. Murray was just one of the executives mentioned, but he ended up being featured, Oliver said, because a request for comment yielded only a threatening cease-and-desist letter. This meant the episode was even less flattering to Murray than it might have been.<\/em><\/p>\n

For example, \u201cEat shit, Bob,\u201d was not a phrase Oliver coined. According to him, it was a phrase one of Murray\u2019s employees wrote on a $3 \u201cbonus check\u201d he sent back because he was insulted by it. Oliver also said that Murray continues to blame a deadly 2007 mine collapse on an \u201cearthquake,\u201d though a report by the federal Mine Safety and Health Administration found there was no evidence of that and blamed it instead on \u201cunauthorized mining practices.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

Oliver also suggested that Murray \u201clooks like a geriatric Dr. Evil,\u201d and had a giant squirrel named \u201cMr. Nutterbutter\u201d come on the show to insult him. (The episode explains that one.)<\/em><\/p>\n

And…<\/p>\n

Again, as an amicus, and as the ACLU, the ACLU was willing to go further, and it offered plenty of good quotes in its brief. \u201cThis case is about [Bob] Murray not liking a television program and somehow believing that is a legally actionable offense,\u201d for example, is a pretty good summary.<\/em><\/p>\n

And…<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd with regard to the Dr. Evil remark,\u201d the brief notes at page seven, \u201cit should be remembered that truth is an absolute defense to a claim of defamation.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/div>\n

And the end:<\/p>\n

The case is \u201cbeyond meritless,\u201d the ACLU charges (which is not technically possible, but that\u2019s being picky). Or, put another way, \u201c[i]t is apt that one of Plaintiffs\u2019 objections \u2026 is about a human-sized squirrel named Mr. Nutterbutter, because this case is nuts.\u201d Finally, it asks the court to sanction Murray et al. for filing yet another a bogus case.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cJohn Oliver was mean to you, Bob,\u201d the brief concludes. \u201cSo what?\u201d Also a pretty good summary of the case.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I have two items about this inedible defamation lawsuit coal magnate Bob Murray brought against John Oliver. The first is from the ACLU, which filed an amicus brief in support of Oliver. The brief is brilliantly funny. Source: This Coal … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[337,1175,631],"tags":[1740,128,1742,1355,1736,1734,525,540,1738,1625,1737,1579,699,1741,1733,1735,1743,1744,1739],"class_list":["post-34365","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-legal-news","category-the-facts-of-life","category-the-war-on-workers","tag-east-shit-bob","tag-aclu","tag-amicus-brief","tag-amicus-curiae-briefs","tag-bob-murray","tag-cease-and-desist-letter","tag-defamation-lawsuit","tag-first-amendment","tag-hbo","tag-john-oliver","tag-john-oliver-last-week-tonight","tag-kevin-underhill","tag-lowering-the-bar","tag-mine-safety-and-health-administration","tag-mr-nutterbutter","tag-robert-e-murray","tag-temporary-restraining-order","tag-tro","tag-williams-connelly"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t