The Climate Science Watch has posted the following breaking news regarding Judge Natalia Combs Greene rejection of another motion to dismiss the defamation suit against the National Review
(& the Competitive Enterprise Institute):
"Judge denies National Review's Motion to Reconsider ruling in Michael Mann's defamation case"
Though first, here's a little introduce to the CSW:
Climate Science Watch was initiated in 2005 after founder and director Rick Piltz went public about the Bush Administration’s political interference in the U.S. Climate Change Science Program’s climate change reports. White House censorship and misuse of climate change communication had undermined the scientific integrity of policymaking and contributed to a failure of preparedness to deal with the impacts of climate disruption. After his resignation from the federal program, Rick teamed up with the Government Accountability Project (GAP) in Washington, DC, the nation’s leading whistleblower protection and advocacy organization. Climate Science Watch is now a sponsored project of GAP.
CSW’s investigation, analysis, communication, and reform advocacy has combined the concerns that have driven it since 2005: protecting freedom of communication by federal scientists; combating the global warming denial machine; holding government accountable for using climate science with integrity; and the policy mission of climate change preparedness.
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Judge denies National Review's Motion to Reconsider ruling in Michael Mann's defamation case
Posted on August 30, 2013 by Climate Science Watch
"The Court finds that there is sufficient evidence in the record to demonstrate that Plaintiff is likely to succeed on the merits," said a DC Superior Court judge in her latest procedural ruling in the defamation case of Michael Mann v. National Review, et al. "The evidence before the Court indicates the likelihood that 'actual malice' is present in the [National Review's] conduct."
On August 30 the Court denied the Defendants' Motion for Reconsideration of the Court's July 19 order, which had affirmed Prof. Mann's right to proceed in his defamation lawsuit. The text of the August 30 Court Order is here in PDF.
Some excerpts from the Court Order denying Defendants' Motion for Reconsideration:
Defamation... The Court finds that there is sufficient evidence in the record to demonstrate that Plaintiff is likely to succeed on the merits. As the Court stated in its previous Order, the NR Defendants’ reference to Plaintiff “as the man behind the fraudulent climate change ‘hockey stick’ graph” was essentially an allegation of fraud by Plaintiff. ...
The Court clearly recognizes that some members involved in the climate-change discussions and debates employ harsh words. The NR Defendants are reputed to use this manner of speech; however there is a line between rhetorical hyperbole and defamation. In this case, the evidence before the Court demonstrates that something more than mere rhetorical hyperbole is, at least at this stage present.
Accusations of fraud, especially where such accusations are made frequently through the continuous usage of words such as “whitewashed,” “intellectually bogus,” “ringmaster of the tree-ring circus” and “cover-up” amount to more than rhetorical hyperbole. ...
The evidence before the Court indicates the likelihood that “actual malice” is present in the NR Defendants’ conduct. ...
Intentional Infliction of Emotional Distress ("IIED")
... The Court finds that Plaintiff’s claim for IIED is similar to that for defamation. There is sufficient evidence before the Court to indicate “actual malice.” The NR Defendants have frequently accused Plaintiff of academic fraud regardless of their awareness that Plaintiff has been investigated by several bodies and his work found to be proper.
The NR Defendant’s persistence despite the findings of the investigative bodies could be likened to a witch hunt. In fact, Plaintiff had nothing to do with the Sandusky case yet the NR Defendants seized upon that criminal act by a pedophile and did more, this Court finds, than simply comment on another article.
The Court agrees with the arguments advanced by Plaintiff. To place Plaintiff’s name in the same sentence with Sandusky (a convicted pedophile) is clearly outrageous. ... {full text in PDF}.
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Climate Science Watch Archives:
"Attacks on Climate Science and Scientists"
(not a complete listing)
Posted on August 30, 2013 by Climate Science Watch
"The Court finds that there is sufficient evidence in the record to demonstrate that Plaintiff is likely to succeed on the merits," said a DC Superior Court judge in her latest procedural ruling in the defamation case of Michael Mann v. … Continue reading →
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Posted on August 19, 2013 by Climate Science Watch
Three new Plaintiff's briefs were filed last week with the DC Superior Court in climate scientist Michael Mann's defamation lawsuit against the National Review and the Competitive Enterprise Institute. "In view of the defendants’ initial public bravado regarding Dr. Mann, … Continue reading →
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Posted on July 19, 2013 by Climate Science Watch
Two decisions handed down July 19 in DC Superior Court affirmed climate scientist Michael Mann’s right to proceed in his defamation lawsuit against the Competitive Enterprise Institute and the National Review Online for their statements accusing him of data manipulation and … Continue reading →
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Posted on October 10, 2012 by Climate Science Watch
Did an Environmental Protection Agency lawyer and global warming denialist violate EPA ethics requirements in also working for the right-wing 'free market' group American Tradition Institute in its inquisition seeking access to climate scientist Michael Mann's email and documents from … Continue reading →
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Posted on September 17, 2012 by Rick Piltz
A Virginia court has affirmed the University of Virginia's right to withhold confidential scholarly communications, thus ruling against the global warming denialist American Tradition Institute's demand to make public climate scientist Michael Mann's documents and email correspondence with dozens of other scientists during his time … Continue reading →
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Posted on July 8, 2012 by Rick Piltz
In an extended interview posted today, Bill Blakemore at ABC News talks with scientist Michael Mann, author of The Hockey Stick and the Climate Wars, about the global warming disinformation campaign, attacks on climate scientists (from Congress to hate mail), the … Continue reading →
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Posted on March 2, 2012 by Rick Piltz
In a victory for university scholars, the Virginia Supreme Court ruled today that Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli does not have the authority to demand the release of email and other documents related to the work of former University of Virginia … Continue reading →
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Posted on February 28, 2012 by Climate Science Watch
The Climate Science Legal Defense Fund is working to make CSLDF a one-stop resource for scientists looking for legal resources and is currently pursuing several educational and legal initiatives. At this time, CSLDF needs financial support to help Dr. Michael … Continue reading →
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Posted on February 11, 2012 by Rick Piltz
The release of climate scientist Michael Mann’s new book, The Hockey Stick and the Climate Wars: Dispatches from the Front Lines, led a popular global warming denialist website to stir up some of its followers to go to Amazon and … Continue reading →
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Posted on November 2, 2011 by Rick Piltz
University of Virginia After a November 1 hearing, a Virginia judge has granted a petition from the University of Virginia to alter an earlier, inappropriate agreement by university lawyers that would have allowed the radical right-wing, global warming denialist American Tradition … Continue reading →
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Posted on August 22, 2011 by Rick Piltz
This is getting old. Completing yet another investigation of the co-author of a seminal study of the 1,000-year temperature record (commonly referred to as the “Hockey Stick”), the National Science Foundation Inspector General concluded: “Finding no research misconduct or other … Continue reading →
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Posted on August 12, 2011 by Rick Piltz
University of Virginia Climate Science Watch joined the American Association of University Professors, the American Geophysical Union, and the Union of Concerned Scientists in calling on the University of Virginia to revise an agreement that would needlessly and inappropriately give … Continue reading →
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Posted on May 3, 2011 by Climate Science Watch
University of Virginia President Teresa Sullivan says the school plans to use “all available exemptions” under the state’s freedom of information act as it responds to a formal legal request from the American Tradition Institute seeking former university climate scientist … Continue reading →
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Posted on April 28, 2011 by Rick Piltz
In “Climategate: What Really Happened?” Kate Sheppard at Mother Jones magazine provides a detailed and well-referenced lookback at “How climate science became the target of ‘the best-funded, best-organized smear campaign by the wealthiest industry that the Earth has ever known.’”
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Posted on April 15, 2011 by Rick Piltz
The American Association of University Professors, the Virginia ACLU, the Union of Concerned Scientists, and nine other groups have called on the University of Virginia to “[balance] the interests in public disclosure against the public interest in academic freedom” in … Continue reading →
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Posted on January 20, 2011 by Rick Piltz
The Republican Study Committee, which represents 165 House Republicans, issued a proposal today to cut more than $2.5 trillion from the federal budget in the next 10 years – with the aim of balancing the federal budget entirely through budget … Continue reading →
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Posted on October 8, 2010 by Rick Piltz
Penn State University climate scientist Michael Mann has a column in the Washington Post section this morning that begins: “As a scientist, I shouldn't have a stake in the upcoming midterm elections, but unfortunately, it seems that I -- and … Continue reading →
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Posted on October 6, 2010 by Rick Piltz
Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli's renewed 'Civil Investigative Demand' for documents relating to research at the University of Virginia by climate scientist Michael Mann is blatantly bogus in its purported interest in scientific integrity. But it is transparent in its willingness … Continue reading →
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Posted on October 6, 2010 by Rick Piltz
Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli’s renewed ‘Civil Investigative Demand’ for documents relating to research at the University of Virginia by climate scientist Michael Mann is blatantly bogus in its purported interest in scientific integrity. But it is transparent in its … Continue reading →
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Posted on August 30, 2010 by Rick Piltz
An Albemarle County Circuit Court judge has set aside a subpoena issued by Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli to the University of Virginia seeking documents related to the work of climate scientist and former university professor Michael Mann, the Washington … Continue reading →
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Posted on July 5, 2010 by Rick Piltz
The UK Guardian reported July 5 on how some of the leading US climate scientists are being subjected to a “vitriolic campaign” of hate mail, some of it quite menacing. US authorities appear to be doing little about it, in … Continue reading →
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Posted on July 1, 2010 by Rick Piltz
Climate Science Watch interviewed Michael Mann on the release of the Penn State University “Final Investigation Report” on allegations of misconduct levied against Dr. Mann late last year by climate change ‘skeptics’ and denialists. The report concluded that there is … Continue reading →
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Posted on May 28, 2010 by Rick Piltz
The University of Virginia has petitioned a state court to “set aside” Attorney General Cuccinelli’s not-so-civil Civil Investigative Demand that it turn over a mass of former UVa Prof. Michael Mann’s documents and e-mail correspondence with 39 other scientists. The … Continue reading →
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Posted on May 24, 2010 by Rick Piltz
ABC-TV World News on May 23 aired a story about how some leading climate scientists are being subjected to a smear campaign by global warming deniers, with hate communications and an attempt to criminalize their activity. Scientists Michael Mann of … Continue reading →
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Posted on May 21, 2010 by Rick Piltz
Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli’s effort to subpoena Prof. Michael Mann’s documents and e-mail correspondence with 39 other scientists would establish a precedent for essentially destroying the ability of university faculty to correspond with colleagues with any sense of confidentiality—a … Continue reading →
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Posted on May 5, 2010 by Rick Piltz
Virginia’s combative right-wing state Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli has issued a “Civil Investigative Demand” calling on the University of Virginia to turn over a large quantity of material about climate scientist Michael Mann, who was at the University during 1999-2005. … Continue reading →
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Posted on April 30, 2010 by Rick Piltz
Global warming denialist Marc Morano, long notorious for putting out propaganda and talking points that bear no relationship to scientific reality, has lately been taking his rhetorical war on science over the top as he smears and maligns the climate … Continue reading →
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Posted on March 10, 2010 by Rick Piltz
The climate science community is beginning to push back in the face of concerted attacks on the integrity of climate science. In a recent interview with science writer Chris Mooney, one of the most frequently attacked researchers—Penn State University climatologist … Continue reading →
Reposted with the blessing of the Climate Science Watch
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