Civil Rights Laws Don't Insulate Against 'Innuendo,' Judge Rules


	Civil Rights Laws Don't Insulate Against 'Innuendo,' Judge Rules

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6-27-2009 11:25 PM

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<div style="margin: 12px 0px; font-family: arial; color: #333333; background: #ffffff; border: solid 4px #e5e5e5; width: 100%; clear: left;"><div class="CM_CTB_Content_Wrap" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;background-color: #ffffff;"><div style="border-bottom: solid 1px #dcdcdc; white-space: nowrap; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: #eeeeee ;background-image: url(http://www.clipmarks.com/images/source-bg.gif); background-repeat: repeat-x; height: 24px; line-height: 24px; vertical-align: middle; padding-bottom: 4px; color: #666666; font-size: 10px;" ><a href="http://clipmarks.com/clip-to-blog/" title="see clips that are hot right now"><img src="http://content.clipmarks.com/blog_embed/bd6cf143-7ea6-489b-bc5b-807656ab40c9/16DAE9DD-A74A-4FF4-917A-AD8D2FC27750/" alt="" width="19" height="19" border="0" style="vertical-align: middle; margin: 0px 4px; display: inline; border: none; float:none;" /></a>clipped from <a title="http://www.law.com/jsp/article.jsp?id=1202431829307&Civil_Rights_Laws_Dont_Insulate_Against_Innuendo_Judge_Rules" href="http://www.law.com/jsp/article.jsp?id=1202431829307&Civil_Rights_Laws_Dont_Insulate_Against_Innuendo_Judge_Rules" style="font-size: 11px;">www.law.com</a></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://www.law.com/jsp/article.jsp?id=1202431829307&Civil_Rights_Laws_Dont_Insulate_Against_Innuendo_Judge_Rules"><P>Ruling there is no constitutional right to be free from "innuendo," a federal judge has dismissed a civil rights suit brought by a police chief who claimed his reputation was damaged when borough officials posted an Internet notice that said he had been suspended.</P></blockquote><div style="height: 2px; font-size: 2px; background: #dcdcdc; border-bottom: solid 1px #f5f5f5; margin: 2px 4px;"></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://www.law.com/jsp/article.jsp?id=1202431829307&Civil_Rights_Laws_Dont_Insulate_Against_Innuendo_Judge_Rules"><P>  "A truthful statement that damages one's reputation simply does not trigger any constitutional concerns," U.S. District Judge J. Curtis Joyner wrote in his 28-page opinion in <A class="linelink" target="new" href="http://www.paed.uscourts.gov/documents/opinions/09D0737P.pdf"><EM>McCarthy v. Darman</EM></A>.</P></blockquote><div style="height: 2px; font-size: 2px; background: #dcdcdc; border-bottom: solid 1px #f5f5f5; margin: 2px 4px;"></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://www.law.com/jsp/article.jsp?id=1202431829307&Civil_Rights_Laws_Dont_Insulate_Against_Innuendo_Judge_Rules"><P>  Plaintiff Albert McCarthy claimed in the suit that he was defamed because notice of his suspension with pay pending the outcome of an investigation was published on the Internet as part of the minutes from a borough council meeting.</P></blockquote><div style="height: 2px; font-size: 2px; background: #dcdcdc; border-bottom: solid 1px #f5f5f5; margin: 2px 4px;"></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://www.law.com/jsp/article.jsp?id=1202431829307&Civil_Rights_Laws_Dont_Insulate_Against_Innuendo_Judge_Rules"><P>  But Joyner concluded that because the published information about the suspension was true, Albert McCarthy could never satisfy the requirements of the so-called "stigma-plus" test to maintain his procedural due process claim.</P></blockquote></div><div style="margin: 0px 6px 6px 4px;"><table style="font-size: 11px;border-spacing: 0px;padding: 0px;" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="100%"><tr><td style="background:transparent;border-width:0px;padding:0px;">&nbsp;</td><td align="right" style="background:transparent;border-width:0px;padding:0px;width:107px" width="107"><a href="http://clipmarks.com/share/16DAE9DD-A74A-4FF4-917A-AD8D2FC27750/blog/" title="blog or email this clip"><img src="http://content9.clipmarks.com/images/c2b-foot.png" border="0" alt="blog it" width="107" height="17" style="border-width:0px;padding:0px;margin:0px;" /></a></td></tr></table></div></div>

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