"This is not about me. I have lost my ability to speak. I am not here to tell my story. I don't want to tell my story. In fact, I don't want to use my voice anymore. That's the problem"
-Amber Heard, quoted from her interview in "Silenced."
This is painful to read. Not surprising, but tragic.
Amber Heard gave years of her life speaking out, both on her own behalf and on that of others.
The world repaid her with unforgivable cruelty.
This is the consequence.
On paper, Amber Heard has the same rights to freedom of speech as anyone else. The final settlement of the Virginia trial included no gag order. She fought for that and won it.
But what one can say in theory, and what one feels safe or able to say, are not the same thing.
I hope some day she feels able to use her voice fully again. And admire her immense courage in giving this interview (her first on the subject to my knowledge since 2022).
An Ontario judge has ruled a million-dollar libel lawsuit launched by three nurses was an attempt to use the courts to silence critics of th
"An Ontario judge has dismissed a $1-million libel action by three nurses who faced disciplinary action for their anti-vaccine views during the pandemic, calling the plantiffs' decision to sue "puzzling" and "surprising."
The lawsuit was dismissed by the court under Ontario's anti-SLAPP legislation. SLAPP stands for strategic lawsuit against public participation and is a legal manoeuvre traditionally used by the rich and powerful to intimidate, silence and/or bankrupt opponents. Ontario introduced legislation in 2015 designed to protect against such gag proceedings from using the courts to silence expression on matters of public interest.
Kristen Nagle of London, Ont., Kristal Pitter of Tillsonburg, Ont., Sarah Choujounian of Toronto and the Canadian Frontline Nurses filed their court action in December 2021, alleging the Canadian Nurses Association (CNA) and independent B.C. news outlet Together News Inc. (TNI) caused harm to their personal and professional reputations with separate online articles published in the fall of 2021.
In her 29-page decision issued Dec. 23, Superior Court Justice Marie-Andrée Vermette sided with the defendants, saying the plaintiffs "failed to establish they have suffered sufficiently serious harm" and "failed to show a causal link between the harm they allege and the publications in issue."
Vermette cited the anti-SLAPP legislation, saying there were "significantly more important sources of harm" to the nurses' reputations that were "unrelated" to the publications, including:
Professional misconduct investigations of all three nurses by the province's nursing regulator, the College of Nurses of Ontario (CNO).The fact all three nurses were terminated from their respective jobs with cause.Numerous media reports about the the nurses, including articles by what the court called "high-profile media organizations."
Vermette also called into question the plaintiffs' decision to sue in the first place, calling it "puzzling," given that similar information appeared in "numerous" other articles published in Canada.
She also said the decision to specifically sue TNI, "a small and regional media organization," was "particularly surprising" because the plaintiffs "chose to ignore similar expressions made by media giants."
Alexander Boissonneau-Lehner, the lawyer for the plaintiffs, responded "no comment" in an email when reached by CBC News on Tuesday.
The court's decision to dismiss the lawsuit under anti-SLAPP legislation is the latest judgment against anti-vaccine and anti-science groups attempting to use the courts to silence and intimidate critics.
Until the COVID-19 pandemic, SLAPP suits were the traditional tactic of the rich and powerful to bully critics into silence, but the legal tactic has been increasingly used lately by those spreading health misinformation in an attempt to hush critics."
November 2023 court activity with The Satanic Temple
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Although we continue to win in court, #TST continues to use the process to harass us and drain our finances.
It'll be four years in April, and it may be that much again before The Satanic Temple exhausts all of their appeals and losing arguments against us.
But the work continues, and TST is an abusive religious organization that has to be stopped.
Last Week Tonight with John Oliver: SLAPP Suits [source]
“After winning a legal battle involving a coal executive and a giant squirrel, John Oliver explains how SLAPP [Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation] suits are designed to stifle public dissent.” [27 mins]
SLAPP Suits: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (HBO)
After winning a legal battle involving a coal executive and a giant squirrel, John Oliver explains how SLAPP suits are designed to stifle public dissent.
