"WaltBJ" wrote in message m...
Otis Willie wrote in message . ..
Court Rejects Suit By Woman Who Was Navy Pilot

(EXCERPT) By Carol D. Leonnig Washington Post Staff Writer Saturday,
December 13, 2003; Page A03

Former Navy Lt. Carey D. Lohrenz chose the life of a public figure
when she signed up as one of the military's first two female combat
pilots and cannot say she was a private citizen defamed when critics
and the news media erred in reporting her qualifications, a federal
appeals court ruled yesterday.


IMNSHO the Court's opinion is BS. If she could get an F14 on a carrier
successfuly day and night through out a tour of sea duty she can
goddam well fly. And what those ****ants did was slander her
professional capabilities. I see no difference between that sort of
act and an article claiming a noted surgeon is an unqualified butcher.
Or 3 federal judges are 21st century Roy Beans, making up the laws as
they go along. Too bad she can't stick them in the back seat to
demonstrate her abilities.

American law on slandering public figure is rather strange. You must prove

1) What you said was false
2) Those comments demeaned the target.
3) The comments were *intended* to hurt the target.

In slandering a public figure, being wrong and hurting someone is just not
enough. The target must prove you intended to cause her emotional pain.
Most slander lawsuits die here. The defense of "we made a mistake" and
"we were sloppy" works.

If she was not a public figure, then merely proving #1 and #2 is enough.
That's why the judge's ruling that she's a public figure was important.

You are welcome to argue that American law should change. But please
understand that I'm not in charge of that department.