Dominion vs. Bullshitters

hobie1616

Super Anarchist
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“Most civil cases between two corporations end up settling before trial,” says Caplan. “Most corporations would rather know for sure it’s going to be X dollars than take the risk that it might be $1.6 billion. It’s a business judgment about how much risk they want to take and how much money they have on hand.”

So, why hasn’t this fight settled? Surmises Fallow, “I assume that it hasn’t settled yet because they’re waiting to see how the judge rules on the motion for summary judgment.”

The ruling could give one side or the other more leverage and affect how much money is on the table. Experts think it’s unlikely that either Fox News or Dominion will prevail on its motion for summary judgement, but are eager to see what judge Eric M. Davis says in a Tuesday hearing in Delaware Superior Court.

“I don’t think either side is going to win their motion,” says Novack. “I’m expecting this to go to trial if nobody blinks and settles.”

But, Novack thinks ultimately Fox will write a check to avoid a trial, which is currently set to begin April 17. “There is an obvious endgame here,” he says, “and is it to settle for a few hundred million dollars and walk away and never discuss it again.”
 

Sol Rosenberg

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Earth

“Most civil cases between two corporations end up settling before trial,” says Caplan. “Most corporations would rather know for sure it’s going to be X dollars than take the risk that it might be $1.6 billion. It’s a business judgment about how much risk they want to take and how much money they have on hand.”

So, why hasn’t this fight settled? Surmises Fallow, “I assume that it hasn’t settled yet because they’re waiting to see how the judge rules on the motion for summary judgment.”

The ruling could give one side or the other more leverage and affect how much money is on the table. Experts think it’s unlikely that either Fox News or Dominion will prevail on its motion for summary judgement, but are eager to see what judge Eric M. Davis says in a Tuesday hearing in Delaware Superior Court.

“I don’t think either side is going to win their motion,” says Novack. “I’m expecting this to go to trial if nobody blinks and settles.”

But, Novack thinks ultimately Fox will write a check to avoid a trial, which is currently set to begin April 17. “There is an obvious endgame here,” he says, “and is it to settle for a few hundred million dollars and walk away and never discuss it again.”
Judges Hate Hate Hate getting reversed on appeal and granting a MSJ is a good way to do it. If a judge grants SJ, it is a clear cut case. The bits we have seen have the look of being clear cut, but we haven’t seen everything. Raising a factual dispute for the trier of fact to decide is not that hard. I will Be surprised if the judge grants an SJ motion.

I expect settlement, and barring that, trial.
 

hobie1616

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Fox bosses ‘shut down’ fact checking with 2020 conspiracies, Dominion lawyer says

Dominion lawyers on Tuesday claimed that Fox Corporation chairman Rupert and his son, CEO Lachlan Murdoch, gave implicit but clear instructions to Fox News after the 2020 election to “shut down the talk of fact-checking” and “let the hosts run wild” with election conspiracies.

“They made the decision to let it happen,” Dominion lawyer Justin Nelson said, referring to the string of baseless claims of vote-rigging and election irregularities that were spread on Fox News in late 2020.

“There is an obligation to stop it once he is made aware of it,” Nelson added.
 

Bus Driver

Bacon Quality Control Specialist
Unless the settlement included at minimum every program on FOX had a scrolling banner in large font stating: FOX knowingly lied about the election and Dominion voting machines. Good until after the next election.
Why would their followers believe that? It would mean they have to admit they were duped.

If they were duped/wrong about that, what ELSE have they been duped/wrong about?

Best to not even let the thought creep into their tiny little minds.
 

Mark_K

Super Anarchist
I think a settlement is more likely than trial. A trial keeps this matter in the news much longer. I think the plaintiff should insist as part of the settlement that Tucker must spend a month as the door-man of FOX News though, wearing a large sandwich board that has the quotes of his true opinions about Trump. I suspect, in order to dodge a trial, they might just get that from Rupert.
 

Ishmael

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I think a settlement is more likely than trial. A trial keeps this matter in the news much longer. I think the plaintiff should insist as part of the settlement that Tucker must spend a month twenty-four hours a day as the door-man of FOX News though, wearing a large sandwich board that has the quotes of his true opinions about Trump. I suspect, in order to dodge a trial, they might just get that from Rupert.
Let's make it more amusing.
 

Mike G

Super Anarchist
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Ventura County, CA
Ol' Ray Epps may get in on the action.
I hope he gets a piece of Fox.

Teter demanded that Carlson and Fox News publicly retract the claim that Epps was working for the federal government during the events of Jan. 6, 2021, and the claim that Epps “acted as an instigator or provocateur of the insurrection.”


 

hobie1616

Super Anarchist
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We are in the midst of a disinformation crisis. And the environment that gave rise to the problems in this suit—a public that has been conditioned to discredit some news outlets and unquestioningly believe others; declining trust in courts and other governmental institutions; an information ecosystem that financially rewards provoking outrage; and politicians who manipulate and dictate the information habits of their bases—will persist, regardless of the outcome.

In other words, defamation law cannot provide an authoritative declaration of all societal truth. It often meets its narrow aim of compensating the defamed party for its reputational injury without serving the broader, more amorphous goal of unringing the bell, let alone correcting a lie circulating in society.

Still, Dominion’s lawsuit has done society a huge service. The depositions conducted, the internal communications gathered, and the harm exposed provide important insights into the causes and effects of election denialism—and of disinformation more generally. Dominion may well prevail on its claims because the evidence of reckless disregard for the truth here is powerful. But defamation law by itself can’t save democracy. Instead, this case and the grave problems it has revealed should spur other, broader conversations about the ways we can and must combat both the supply of disinformation and the seemingly bottomless demand for it.
 
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