Media & Communications Law
New Argument: Beware of Bloggers
Lawyers for I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby Jr. argued against release of letters in his support on the ground that the authors would be subjected to ridicule on the Internet.
Lawyers said there was “the real possibility that these letters, once released, would be published on the Internet and their authors discussed, even mocked, by bloggers,” according to the New York Times.
The newspaper dubbed the argument a “ ‘bloggers can be mean’ defense.”
U.S. District Judge Reggie B. Walton rejected the argument and released the letters. He sentenced Libby to 30 months in prison for lying to investigators probing a leak of a CIA agent’s identity.
