XPost: alt.gossip.celebrities, alt.politics.democrats.d, sac.general   
   XPost: alt.rush-limbaugh   
   From: nigger-lovers@disney.com   
      
   An appellate court has ruled that Joy Reid, the new host of   
   MSNBC’s 7 PM weeknight hour, should again face a defamation   
   lawsuit over a woman’s claim that, in Reid’s social media posts,   
   she falsely accused her of making racist remarks at a 2018 Simi   
   Valley, CA city council meeting.   
      
   The plaintiff in the case, Roslyn La Liberte, contends that in   
   one of Reid’s social media posts on Instagram, she defamed her   
   by attributing racist remarks to her. Then in another post on   
   Facebook and Instagram, La Liberte claims, Reid juxtaposed a   
   photo from the council meeting with the 1957 image of a white   
   woman in Little Rock screaming execrations at a Black child   
   trying to go to school.   
      
   The appellate ruling overturns a district judge’s decision that   
   the case should be dismissed.   
      
   The judges overturned a lower court ruling that La Liberte is a   
   limited purpose public figure, something that would require a   
   higher threshold to prove defamation.   
      
   “Accordingly, she was not required to allege that Reid acted   
   with actual malice as to either post,” the three-judge panel   
   wrote. “Moreover, the court erred by characterizing Reid’s   
   second post as nonactionable opinion … That post could be   
   interpreted as accusing La Liberte of engaging in specific   
   racist conduct, which is a provable assertion of fact and   
   therefore actionable.”   
      
   The appellate court also ruled that the case could not be   
   dismissed under California’s anti-SLAPP statute, designed to   
   prevent plaintiffs from stifling free speech via litigation. The   
   judges found that the California law was “inapplicable” in   
   federal court because “it increases a plaintiff’s burden to   
   overcome pretrial dismissal.”   
      
   The appellate court agreed with another aspect of the district   
   judge’s ruling — that Reid is not protected by Section 230 of   
   the Communications Decency Act. That provides immunity to sites   
   for content posted by third parties. “To the contrary, she is   
   the sole author of both allegedly defamatory posts,” the judges   
   wrote.   
      
   MSNBC declined comment. Her attorney, John Reichman, said in a   
   statement, “We are disappointed that the case was not dismissed,   
   but that doesn’t change the fact that the case is completely   
   without merit and we will vigorously contest it.”   
      
   In their opinion (read it here), the judges laid out the   
   sequence of events.   
      
   In June, 2018, La Liberte spoke at the council meeting to speak   
   out against a state law that limits cooperation between law   
   enforcement and federal immigration authorities.   
      
   Photographed with a 14-year-old Hispanic teenager near her, La   
   Liberte was shown with her hand to her throat and making a   
   gagging gesture.   
      
   One activist, Alan Vargas, tweeted the photo on June 28 with the   
   caption, “You are going to be the first deported” [and] “dirty   
   Mexican” [w]ere some of the things they yelled they yelled [sic]   
   at this 14 year old boy. He was defending immigrants at a rally   
   and was shouted down. Spread this far and wide this woman needs   
   to be put on blast.   
      
   Reid retweeted Vargas’s tweet the next day.   
      
   La Liberte, though, takes issue with Reid’s further posts. On   
   June 29, she posted the photo on Instagram with the caption, He   
   showed up to a rally to defend immigrants . . . . She showed up   
   too, in her MAGA hat, and screamed, “You are going to be the   
   first deported” . . . “dirty Mexican!” He is 14 years old. She   
   is an adult. Make the picture black and white and it could be   
   the 1950s and the desegregation of a school. Hate is real,   
   y’all. It hasn’t even really gone away.   
      
   The teenager gave an interview to Fox 11 in Los Angeles and told   
   the station that La Liberte did not yell racial slurs and that   
   the discussion was “civil.”   
      
   On July 1, Reid posted in Instagram and Facebook a post that   
   juxtoposed the photo with one from 1957, during the   
   desegregation of Little Rock High School.   
      
   The caption read, It was inevitable that this [juxtaposition]   
   would be made. It’s also easy to look at old black and white   
   photos and think: I can’t believe that person screaming at a   
   child, with their face twisted in rage, is real. By [sic] every   
   one of them were. History sometimes repeats. And it is full of   
   rage. Hat tip to @joseiswriting. #regram #history #chooselove.   
      
   La Liberte hired a lawyer, who contacted Reid to take down the   
   posts and apologize. She did, and said in a statement that “it   
   appears that I got this wrong.”   
      
   La Liberte, though, pursued a defamation claim, accusing Reid of   
   falsely claiming that she yelled racial slurs at the teenager.   
      
      
   [continued in next message]   
      
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