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I know nothing about law, but would there be ground for some form of defamation here? At this point, the governor has had what the reporter did thoroughly expla
by tombert 5y ago
I know nothing about law, but would there be ground for some form of defamation here? At this point, the governor has had what the reporter did thoroughly explained to him, and he keeps claiming that this is "hacking" seemingly just because he's embarrassed. From my perspective, it seems like he's outright lying and making accusations of criminal activity, in order to besmirch the name of someone he doesn't like.
- torstenvl 5y agoIn the U.S., defamation is generally covered by state law, with very few exceptions. There's also usually substantial immunity for officials acting in an official capacity (Parsons is addressing an issue of governmental embarrassment not personal embarrassment). I think the better route is impeachment for failing to take care that the laws are faithfully executed and abuse of office. But it's not clear that Missouri provides a way for the newspaper or any individual to force that issue.
- bagels 5y agoI don't think the campaign video is anyone acting in an official capacity though.
- dekhn 5y agoyou're turning the case around- yes, you're right, the reporter and academic could sue, but it's not worth it (the defamation wasn't particularly effective) IMHO. It would mainly just make money for lawyers and mildly embarass the state. Realistically, there's an IT executive in the Missouri government who screwed up, and the newspaper should be suing the state for criminal infosec practices (they did, after all, leak individual SSNs).
- EtherTyper 5y agoThis comment on an earlier post about the event seems relevant. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=28947555 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=28947555