CNN
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A jury has awarded local weather scientist Michael Mann greater than $1 million in a defamation lawsuit he introduced in opposition to a former scholar and a media persona who lampooned Mann’s work.
The authorized battle has been ongoing for greater than a decade. Mann initially filed a lawsuit in 2012, after Rand Simberg, a former scholar for the Aggressive Enterprise Institute, and Mark Steyn, a TV and radio persona who wrote for the Nationwide Evaluate, wrote weblog posts ridiculing Mann’s scientific analysis that warned of rising temperatures, and in contrast him to Jerry Sandusky, the previous Pennsylvania State soccer coach who was convicted of kid molestation.
“Mann may very well be mentioned to be the Jerry Sandusky of local weather science, besides that as a substitute of molesting youngsters, he has molested and tortured information within the service of politicized science that would have dire financial penalties for the nation and planet,” Steyn and Simberg wrote. Steyn and Simberg additionally ridiculed Mann’s analysis on the “Hockey Stick” chart that illustrated the dramatic rise in common world temperature since pre-industrial occasions.
A jury within the Washington, DC, Superior Courtroom civil case awarded Mann $1 million in punitive damages and a greenback from every defendant in compensatory damages.
Mann had additionally sued the Nationwide Evaluate and Aggressive Enterprise Institute. A DC Superior Courtroom decide finally dismissed Mann’s case in opposition to them in 2021 however allowed the case in opposition to Steyn and Simberg to proceed. Mann intends to enchantment that 2021 choice, which mentioned the Aggressive Enterprise Institute and Nationwide Evaluate couldn’t be held chargeable for defamation, based on multiple reports.
“I hope this verdict sends a message that falsely attacking local weather scientists is just not protected speech,” Mann mentioned in a press release posted on X. Representatives for the defendants didn’t reply to CNN’s requests for remark.
“At present’s verdict vindicates Mike Mann’s good identify and popularity,” his lawyer Pete Fontaine mentioned within the assertion. “It is also an enormous victory for fact scientists all over the place who dedicate their lives answering very important scientific questions impacting human well being and the planet.”
Defamation is notoriously tough to show in america, as a result of the First Modification gives broad protections for speech. Nevertheless, Mann’s is the newest in a latest string of defamation trial victories for plaintiffs or giant settlements – most notably together with E. Jean Carrol’s $83.3 million verdict in opposition to former President Donald Trump. And final 12 months, Fox Corp. agreed to pay Dominion Voting Systems $787 million in a settlement.