Campaign Flyer Lawsuit Tossed Out
A former justice of the 5th District Appellate Court in Mount Vernon, Illinois had his defamation lawsuit thrown out by the court on whose bench he once sat. Former Justice Gordon Maag, a Democrat from Madison County, unsuccessfully ran for the Illinois Supreme Court in 2004 and lost a retention vote for his seat on the appeals court. Maag alleged in the lawsuit that a 2004 campaign flyer prepared by the Illinois Coalition for Jobs, Growth and Prosperity unfairly characterized him as soft on crime. At least one flyer said Maag's record on crime was "embarrassing" and "dangerous" and said he "let a murderer back on the streets." The lawsuit was filed against the Coalition, the Illinois Chamber of Commerce and two coalition officers.
Last week, a three judge panel of the appeals court upheld a judge's dismissal of Maag's $110 million defamation suit, ruling that although the flyer included "hysterical hyperbole" that is "insulting to the judicial and electoral process," when a person runs for public office, "he puts his character in issue so far as it relates to his fitness and qualifications for office; therefore his conduct and actions are fair game for comment." Despite opining that the flyer "is full of disparagement and innuendo unbefitting a campaign for judicial office," the court opined further that, "ill-informed, mean-spirited hyperbole is not necessarily defamation per se."
The lawsuit was initially dismissed last year by an outside judge brought in to hear the case. Maag then appealed to his former court. A similar suit is pending in federal court.
News reports indicate that Maag plans to appeal the decision. Maag's attorney indicated that five of the six court decisions attributed to Maag on the flyer had actually been unanimous decisions of a three-judge panel and Maag wrote the majority opinion in only one of the cases.
Doug Whitley, the Illinois Chamber's president, said Thursday's ruling left the defendants "vindicated." "Their decision is a repudiation of a frivolous lawsuit that was aimed at intimidating people who would engage in electoral politics," Whitley said. "It is important that the court again recognizes and defends our rights to exercise free speech and to publicly disseminate information and opinions on candidates for public office in the electoral process."
--Source: Belleville News-Democrat (Illinois) and The Associated Press
