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Friday, March 09, 2007

Minnesota Democrats Exposed.. BIG WIN FOR BLOGGERS.

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7 Comments:

Blogger Bob said...

Judge tosses libel suit against conservative Minnesota blogger
BY TIM NELSON
Pioneer Press
A judge threw out a libel suit this week against one of Minnesota's most popular conservative bloggers, issuing a ruling that put the political Web site on the same legal ground as newspapers and broadcast news outlets.

Michael Brodkorb, a political operative behind minnesotademocratsexposed.com, expressed relief at the dismissal.

"I think this goes back to what I said from the beginning, that this was a frivolous lawsuit and the court agreed with me," he said. "I'm glad that it's over."

St. Paul-based public relations executive Blois Olson sued Brodkorb in January 2006. The suit centered on a Brodkorb blog posting suggesting Olson criticized a Democratic congressional contender because her campaign had rebuffed political services offered by one of Olson's associates.

In dismissing the suit Thursday, Dakota County District Court Judge Timothy Blakely cited a 1964 U.S. Supreme Court ruling stating that public figures must prove malicious intent or reckless disregard for the truth to win defamation claims.

Blakely's ruling indicates that Olson, a Democratic political advisor and publisher of a prominent political newsletter, "Politics in Minnesota," would have had to meet that standard.

"You can't be surprised at the judgment, because it's a very, very difficult to overcome, as a public figure, the standard of actual malice," said spokesman John Wodele, to whom Olson deferred for comment. "But you can't just let something like this go."

Suits against bloggers are becoming more common, said Lucy Dalglish, executive director of the Arlington, Va.,-based Reporters Committee for the Freedom of the Press.

"They are showing that the ground rules for existing mass communication can be successfully applied to the Internet," she said. "The standards don't just apply to the mainstream media … but usually people don't go after bloggers because they tend to be loudmouths without any money."

Olson sued Brodkorb — at the time an anonymous blogger — for a Dec. 28, 2005, posting suggesting Hubert H. "Buck" Humphrey IV, the grandson of the late vice president and an employee of Blois' New School Communications firm, solicited business from former FBI agent Coleen Rowley's congressional campaign for New School and that Olson later publicly characterized the campaign as inept.

Last year, Olson told the Pioneer Press his firm's employees sometimes advise candidates, but do not accept campaigns as paying clients. He said at the time that he had "no idea" whether Humphrey sought paid work with the Rowley campaign but that Humphrey was not acting on behalf of the firm if he did.

The subsequent unraveling of the case happened behind closed doors. Both parties stipulated that parts of the case file remain sealed and Blakely notes his order is restricted to only general outlines of the facts.

Tim Nelson can be reached at tnelson@pioneerpress.com or 651-292-1159.

9:12 PM  
Blogger Bob said...

Minnesota Democrats exposed is one of my favorite reads.

You can find it permanently linked to the right of the screen on the front page under links.

I was actually warned by the forum manager of Saint Paul Issues and Forums for linking "Minnesota Democrats Exposed" at SPIF. I was told the site is offensive to other members of SPIF.

I wasn't surprised, the liberal indoctrination forum doesn't like the truth told.

10:43 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

And that is just what they do is want to banish everything they do not like without regard for anyone else or their likes and dislikes, but that is FREEDOM when your are a liberal.

11:03 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Whoa! I'll walk with you about your rants on SPIF but to equate MDE as a beacon of truth is just insane. Even Brodkorb doesn't claim it to be. He does over there EXACTLY what you hate about SPIF. To think that that stuff is the truth you'd have to believe that Keith Ellison is a terrorist for starters. He spent two months doing nothing but writing bs about the guy who NEVER took a shot back or said a negative word the entire campaign.
Crazy.

9:37 AM  
Blogger Bob said...

Micheal has censored, we don't do that here. All views are welcome here.

I get the same thing when I listen to Rush Limbaugh.

I still find MDE very interesting.

10:14 AM  
Blogger Sharon4Anderson said...

RIGHT ON: Sharon's humble ECF_Pacer Accounts to Electronically file Blogs for public policy: Lower court Judges must go by the Constitution and precedant www.sharon-mn-ecf.blogspot.com Note files are not free: unless you have accounts.
www.cobrashar.blogspot.com Grateful Thanks to Dodder Inc. used against defendant Joel Essling in Sharon Case's also

11:40 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Sharon-
It is, Dadder Inc.
Not, Dodder Inc.
Just spell the Name's Right.

12:49 PM  

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