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Comment on Clarence Thomas Wants to Go After Freedom of the Press

wintermute_oregon@lemm.ee ⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

The title is about free speech. The media called him a felon. He is not a felon. That’s easy to fact check and it is damaging to his reputation.

Thomas is correct.

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PizzaMan@lemmy.world ⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
It’s not that cut and dry.

The court determined that journalists were confused about the meaning of the term “felon,” which by definition refers to someone convicted of a felony. Although Blankenship was not a “felon,” he was sentenced to serve a one-year sentence in federal prison — a rarity for a misdemeanor offense.

“Blankenship’s prison sentence placed him as close to felony status as possible,” Gregory said, adding that for “non-lawyers” describing Blankenship as a felon was not “inherently improbable,” and there were not “obvious reasons to doubt the veracity” of such a statement.

“Some of the statements may have been the product of carelessness and substandard journalistic methods,” the chief judge wrote. “But at the end of the day, the record does not contain evidence that the commentators and journalists responsible for the statements were anything more than confused about how to describe a person who served a year in prison for a federal offense.”

apnews.com/…/crime-west-virginia-don-blankenship-…

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- wintermute_oregon@lemm.ee ⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  That is some mental gymnastics to come to that conclusion. He was convicted of a misdemeanor. Only an idiot would think that’s a felon.
  
  Thomas is correct. Were let the standard slip to be meaningful.
  
  Freedom is speech is between you and the government. It’s not about people defaming you.
  
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  - PizzaMan@lemmy.world ⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
    
    He was convicted of a misdemeanor.
    
    He was in federal prison.
    
    Freedom is speech is between you and the government. It’s not about people defaming you.
    
    You can’t have free speech without protections from slap suits.
    
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    wintermute_oregon@lemm.ee ⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
    Umm… Where do you think a person goes to serve time if they go to a federal institution?
    
    Free speech is between you and the government. It isn’t between you and another party.
    
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