School Reformers Interested in Defamation Lawsuit

John Biver of the Family Taxpayers Foundation has another great post on the FTF site. This article points out why so many people do not speak out. But this is exactly the reason why people should speak out. School employees have become very powerful. Referendum's will pass if people especially parents and students do not speak out about the deplorable behavior of most school employees and many in the press.

School Reformers Interested in Defamation Lawsuit

By John Biver

An interesting case working its way through the court system has implications for school reformers. You may have read about Illinois Supreme Court Chief Justice Bob Thomas’ libel lawsuit against the Geneva-based Kane County Chronicle (Click here for an AP article and here for a Sun-Times article). Government watchdogs who have been the subject of similar newspaper treatment are paying attention.

At issue in the Thomas case is a newspaper column that claimed Thomas had changed his position in a disciplinary hearing after alleged quid pro quo support was given to a judicial candidate that Thomas favored.

The Associated Press reports that the Kane County Chronicle is standing by its columnist. The AP also quotes Thomas as saying, “The one thing the law doesn’t protect is lying, and that’s what this was.”

What makes this case interesting for school reformers is a recent column by Jennifer Martikean in the Northwest Herald bashing D158 School Board Member Larry Snow for automated phone calls he had nothing to do with.
 
In her column, Martikean portrays Larry Snow in a false light, creating the impression that he cooked up a nefarious plot to hide a campaign expenditure.

To view the rest of the article click here.