Court Rules In WND's 'Birth Certificate' Lawsuit

'This is an issue for the jury to decide'

WND

"Where's the Birth Certificate?" by Jerome Corsi

A three-judge federal appeals court panel Tuesday denied WND’s request for a jury trial to determine whether or not an Esquire magazine article that ridiculed the Internet publisher and suppressed sales of a book should be protected by the First Amendment.

“It’s dishonest,” said WND’s attorney, Larry Klayman, of the decision. “This is an issue for the jury to decide. They took it away from the jury, and that’s inappropriate.”

Klayman argued that there is doubt as to whether or not a May 18, 2011, article on Esquire’s website by Executive Editor Mark Warren would be regarded by a reasonable person as satire, as Esquire and its publisher, Hearst, claim.

The attorney, founder of the political advocacy group Freedom Watch, said he will file a petition for rehearing the 2-1 decision by the U.S. District Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia before the full court.

Warren’s article stated falsely that the WND Books exposé “Where’s the Birth Certificate? The Case That Barack Obama Is Not Eligible To Be President” by Jerome Corsi had been recalled and repudiated by publisher WND Books and its CEO, Joseph Farah.

Support WND’s “Esquire Justice Fund” to take action against Esquire for its malicious attack on Jerome Corsi’s book “Where’s the Birth Certificate?”

WND’s $250 million lawsuit contends the article is not protected by the First Amendment, because its publication caused real damage by defaming WND and suppressing book sales. Many potential book buyers and media members clearly believed the article was a news story reporting the demise of the book, not a work of satire.

WND was appealing a decision in June 2012 by Judge Rosemary Collyer of the U.S. District Court in D.C. to grant Esquire’s motion to dismiss the case based on D.C.’s anti-SLAPP law, which protects media and public figures from frivolous lawsuits regarding their First Amendment rights.

Klayman contends, citing precedent, the case cannot be tossed out by the anti-SLAPP law, because only a jury can decide whether or not a particular article would be regarded as satire by a reasonable person.

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Reposted with permission.

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