The Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals upholds the earlier decision in my favor in the defamation lawsuit filed by John Lott against me.
Knowing John Lott, U.S. Supreme Court, here we come.
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TAGS: John Lott
Naked Self-Promotion
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Really, he has to sue you. By not challenging the questions you raise with regards to his conclusions, he is implicitly admitting that his theory doesn’t hold water. That would have a dramatic negative impact on his career. If he fights and loses, he still keeps up the appearance of standing behind his conclusions.
Um, might that last statement invite a new separate defamation suit?
Good. Academic disagreements should not be resolved in the courts. Levitt neither originated the claim that Lott’s data was falsified, nor did he conclude that it was so, he merely reported on the claim, and concluded that his conclusions turned out not to be the case.
@Gary, the problem is not that he’s challenging Levitt, it’s that he’s using the wrong venue to do so. It’s just as inappropriate as if he challenged him to a duel at dawn!
It’s actually a fairly interesting and colorful decision:
From page 6:
“In law (actually in love and most everything else in life),
timing is often everything. “
How did a private email between you and a colleague (in which the court denied your motion to dismiss) end up in Lott’s hands?
And why is such a private communique subject to defamation law? Would a letter (again, in response) have been grounds for a similar lawsuit? Its not as if you published that email. That sucks for you.
Good luck with any future proceedings, I’m sure the court will uphold its ruling in your favor.
You just know he keeps waiting, keeps hoping, that Mary Rosh will be on one of these panels.
@1: Not really, he could try to find common ground with his “detractors”, address procedural mistakes, and then reissue his findings. But wait, that sounds like a grown-up.
Congratulations.
& the opinion by Judge Evans was the best I’ve read in a long time – entertaining, with solid legal analysis. The Supreme Court will not accept this case; this decision will stand.