ACLU Amicus Brief in John Oliver case

[Gothmog]

I have been following this case and read the ACLU amicus brief yesterday and enjoyed it. Here is a link t the brief https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/3911409-Wvnd-19902323086.html

I am not the only one who enjoyed this brief

Link to tweet

[Lotusflower70]

1. I love it

Lol. Bob Murray is a snowflake in need of a safe space. I love John Oliver.

[47of74]

2. Anyone Can Legally Say Eat Shit, Bob!

I love that.

(I wonder what my writing professor would have said if I used that as a point heading in an assignment).

[Gothmog]

3. That was not covered in my First Amendment class but makes sense

People say that lawyers lack a sense of humor

[spinbaby]

7. I've met one of the lawyers on this case

Trust me, they're having a blast.

[Gothmog]

8. I bet that they are having fun

Bob is a great plaintiff to attack and mock

[Warren DeMontague]

12. Oh, Don't tell Gail Dines or Donna Rice. They won't be pleased.

I wonder how they feel about the GOP's "anti-obscenity" promise now, given the administration hiring the "he can suck his own cock" guy?

[Nevernose]

4. The Dr Evil comparison photos are fucking priceless

I've never seen anything like it in a court document.

My only mild criticism is that instead of referring to the plaintiff as "Mr. Murray," they should have referred to him as "convicted felon Bob Murray." Every single time.

[Gothmog]

9. Those were great pictures

You see more pictures and graphs in briefs now but this was not your standard brief

[Tommy_Carcetti]

5. Bet you anything John wrote it himself.

I couldn't help but read it in his voice.

[NurseJackie]

6. Nicely done! I got some chuckles out of that!

[Warren DeMontague]

10. Good. Censorship sucks.

All good progressives oppose censorship and support the 1st Amendment. Like other issues, it is non-negotiable AFAIAC.

[progressoid]

11. It was a great show....

[Initech]

13. Aw... not Mr. Nutterbutter!!!!

[Warren DeMontague]

14. That's some solid writing. Time to send another check to the ACLU, I think.

I can't believe I remember someone on this site called them "addle-brained" not too long ago..

I think because they were having a tantrum that consenting adults in this country can look at pictures of other consenting adults having sex.

[Gothmog]

15. Snarky, profane ACLU brief supports John Oliver against coal company CEO

The American Bar Association is also having fun with this idiotic lawsuit. The ABA also enjoyed the brief from the West Virginia ACLU http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/snarky_aclu_brief_filed_on_behalf_of_john_oliver_tells_ceo_anyone_can_legal/?utm_source=maestro&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=weekly_email

The American Civil Liberties Union has a message for Murray Energy CEO Bob Murray: “You can’t sue people for being mean to you, Bob.”

The West Virginia ACLU filed an amicus brief in a defamation suit Murray filed against John Oliver for his June segment on the coal industry and its treatment of workers in a monologue on his HBO program, Last Week Tonight. Vanity Fair calls the brief “hilarious,” while LawNewz calls it the “snarkiest legal brief ever.” Slate and the Hollywood Reporter also have stories....

The ACLU brief pokes fun at the lawsuit and criticizes the lawyers who filed it.

“It is a basic concept of free speech that you do not get to sue media organizations because you don’t like their coverage,” the brief says. “It is frankly shocking that plaintiffs were able to find attorneys willing to file a lawsuit that is so obviously unconstitutional.”

With regard to the Dr. Evil remark, the brief says, truth is an absolute defense to defamation. The brief includes side-by-side photos of Murray and Myers as Dr. Evil.

In a portion of the brief captioned “Anyone Can Legally Say ‘Eat Shit Bob,’” the ACLU calls the case “beyond meritless” and “offensive to the very ideals of free speech.”

“It is apt that one of plaintiffs’ objections to the show is about a human-sized squirrel named Mr. Nutterbutter, because this case is nuts,” the brief says. “Which also begs the question: is Mr. Nutterbutter one of the 50 Doe Defendants included in this action?”

[Gothmog]

16. The Coal Company is objecting to amicus brief

Link to tweet

Link to tweet

[Gothmog]

17. This is from the Coal Company's objection

Link to tweet

[Ken Burch]

18. If anybody starts selling "Eat Shit, Bob!" buttons in support of John Olivers legal fees...

I'll buy one. I might even become a regional distributor.

[Gothmog]

19. I actually have my own political button machine

I bought it many years ago when my son ran for statewide office for a student organization and had a campaign spending limit. We made our own buttons instead of buying them to keep under the spending limit. My middle child used similar buttons two years later and won her race for statewide office. Since then, I produce buttons from time to time. The Obama team did some artwork for the voter protection team and I made buttons for the local team and for some litigators in the voter id and redistricting cases.

Juanita Jean and a couple of other people I know have their own machines

[Gothmog]

20. Murray Energys tricky attack on ACLU in John Oliver libel case

Murray energy is playing dirty to challenge ACLU amicus brief http://www.reuters.com/article/us-otc-murray-idUSKBN1AO2HP

Rarely does any legal filing, let alone an amicus brief, receive the kind of adoring media coverage that embraced the West Virginia ACLU’s brief last week in Murray Energy’s libel and defamation suit against John Oliver, host of a weekly satirical news show on HBO. The snark-infused, anti-Murray brief, variously described as stone-cold hilarious, awesome, super salty (and vulgar), practically begged for a response from the company and its CEO, Robert Murray.

On Monday, Murray picked up the ACLU’s gauntlet, arguing in a brief in federal court in Wheeling, West Virginia, that the civil liberties group should not be allowed to appear as an amicus in the Oliver case. Murray’s most substantive argument: The ACLU, according to Murray, “failed to disclose its indisputable and disqualifying bias,” an alleged economic motive to back John Oliver and his co-defendants.

“In November of 2016,” Murray’s brief said, “Oliver used ‘Last Week Tonight with John Oliver’ to encourage viewers to donate to numerous left-leaning organizations, which - not surprisingly - resulted in an immediate surge of millions of dollars in donations to the ACLU.” Oliver’s campaign, Murray claimed, meant that the ACLU wasn’t being straight with the court when it said no one in the Oliver camp had funded its amicus filing.

The only problem with that argument? Oliver never called on viewers to donate to the ACLU.

This is a chickenshit argument that shows that Murray is worried