Democrat sues Tenn. Republican for libel on blog

By Marisha Kelly


Rep. Stacey Campfield, R-Knoxville, right, with Rep. Jimmy Eldridge, R-Jackson, left, at a committee meeting in Nashville, Tenn. on May 25, 2005.


(c) 2005 Associated Press (Photo by Mark Humphrey)

Democratic state House candidate Roger Byrge has filed a $750,000 libel suit against Republican state Rep. Stacey Campfield, according to an Associated Press report posted on Tennessee’s Elizabethton Star Online.

Byrge, who lost last week’s East Tennessee race to Rep. Chad Faulkner, stated that Campfield wrote false comments on his blog that he had numerous arrests on drug charges.

According to the report, the following Oct. 12 comments are no longer posted on Campfield’s blog:

"Word is a ... mail piece has gone out exposing Byrge's multiple separate drug arrests including arrests for possession and drug dealing (I hear the mug shots are gold)."

But a printout of the original posting has been included in the lawsuit’s file.

According to the AP, the lawsuit filed in Jacksboro stated that the blog posting "caused damage to the plaintiff's reputation, damage to his standing in his community, personal humiliation and great distress."

House Democratic Caucus political director Keith Talley told the AP that the comments were “an obvious example of Republicans doing anything or saying anything to get elected.” Talley said these “kind[s] of smear tactics” may have led to Byrge’s loss in the race.

Campfield told the AP he has not seen the lawsuit.

"I know a little bit about the First Amendment, and I just don't see him having a basis for damages," he added.

New York Legislature passes the Libel Terrorism Protection Act

By Emmy Llewellyn

It all started when Saudi Arabian businessman, Khalid Salim a Bin Mahfouz, won a judgement in a defamation suit against Rachel Ehrenfeld, an author from the United States, in a British court. Previously, Bin Mahfouz has sued for libel 36 times in British courts, according to The Reporter's Committee for Freedom of the Press.
The bill was initiated when the New York Court of Appeals ruled that the state did not have "jurisdiction" over Bin Mahfouz when he won the suit against an American author in a British court.
This new law would help protect American journalists from these types of lawsuits in governments outside of the United States that do not offer the same freedoms that journalists get under our First Amendment.
This bill reinforces that the First Amendment protects our free speech values even when they are challenged on foreign soil.