Updates on the Riehl-McCain Investigation of Jesse Griffin

Dan Riehl has learned that Jesse Griffin will not be returning to work as a Teacher's Assistant for the coming school year. Apparently, Griffin has known for some time that he wouldn't and claims that he resigned to pursue other projects. However, he didn't reveal that to his fans and blog readers, and allowed Jeanne Devon to make a fool of herself opining that the lawsuit would somehow terrorize the kindergartners where Griffin used to work.

See Dan's current post on the matter here.

Update: Stacy McCain has posted the latest update at The Other McCain:

EXIT, LYING: SCHOOL'S OUT FOR
ANTI-PALIN BLOGGER GRIFFIN

ANCHORAGE KINDERGARTEN AIDE
RESIGNS FOLLOWING DISCLOSURE

Read it here.

Bill O'Reilly Discusses Jesse Griffin's "Palin Divorce" Smear

Bill O'Reilly feels that Sarah Palin should press forward with her lawsuit against Jesse Griffin. I hope she does too. Win or lose, it would be worth what could be learned in discovery and who knows, maybe the good guys will win one for a change.

It must be a nightmare for Jesse Griffin, who has lost his "secret identity." Not only does O'Reilly name him, his photo is displayed for millions to see. Furthermore, O'Reilly and friends are less than complimentary of Griffin's opinions and accomplishments.

Hat tip: Conservatives4Palin

Dan Riehl and Stacy McCain Publish Their Investigation of Jesse Griffin

Dan Riehl and Stacy McCain have been researching Jesse Griffin of the "Palin Divorce" rumor. You can read Riehl's report here. McCain didn't write a report so much as he wrote an email to Griffin, which was published here. There wasn't much yet in Riehl's report but there may be more later on.

Riehl's message was this:

1. Jesse Griffin has published some vulgar material on his blog (text not photos) that uses profanity, makes ugly and obscene slurs at Sarah Palin and in one case, advocates homosexuality to avoid service in Iraq.

In other words, Griffin is a walking monument to bad taste, but we knew that already. The slurs against Palin may be useful in court, but that's for the Palin attorney to decide.

2. Jesse Griffin's MySpace page makes his identity obvious and it also links to his blog, "Immoral Minority," so Griffin moaning about how he's been "outed" rings a bit false. If he didn't want people to know his real name, then why did he do such a poor job of hiding it? This is the most substantive and useful point in Riehl's report.

3. Since Griffin's MySpace page is easily accessible on the Internet, his students could potentially find it and then follow the link to his blog, where they would read sexually explicit language and profanity. Since kindergartners are around the age of 5, I doubt that many of them are that computer literate so I doubt that there is much to worry about.

Update: Dan Riehl has explained at his blog that the above is just the opening shot. There is more to come. Stay tuned.

Lefty Alaskan Bloggers Use Kindergarten Kids as Props in Palin Controversy

Jeanne Devon of leftist Alaskan blog, The Mudflats, is up to her usual mendacity. Sarah Palin is on the verge of suing Jesse Griffin of the "Immoral Minority" for publishing a false story about the Palins divorcing. Palin's attorney sent Griffin a letter asking him if he would rather be served with a summons at home or at work, giving Griffin a choice. However, the lefty Alaskan bloggers have seized on that to scream that Palin's attorney is going to serve Griffin right in front of the kindergartners that he teaches.

Devious Devon has posted an article on her blog today called "Leave the Kids Alone!" It is a transparent attempt at misdirection, to turn the public conversation about the misdeeds of Griffin in a different direction, painting the Palin team as child abusers and transforming Griffin from culprit to victim. She writes:

...the “leaving kids alone” philosophy shouldn’t be applied too broadly, according to the Palins. The latest dastardly deed from Palin lawyer and Snidely Whiplash Wannabee, Thomas Van Flein, involves bringing down the iron-fisted, pointy-knuckled wrath of Sarah Palin in front of…(wait for it)… a classroom full of five-year-olds.

Like most everything Devon publishes on her blog, it is thoroughly dishonest and Machiavellian. For one thing, the lawsuit would not be served by the attorney himself; they use independent third party process servers for that task. This is so the server can later testify that the summons was indeed served, should the defendant dispute it. The process server has no stake in the case one way or the other.

For another thing, school hasn't started yet, so if Griffin is at work, there won't be any kids there. Even if there were, the lawsuit would not be served on him in the middle of the classroom. He would be called out of class, probably by the principal, to be served away from the kids. Serving a summons merely consists of handing a sealed envelope to the person served, that's it. It isn't necessary, for example, to tackle the servee and smack him in the jaw while screaming profanities.

The false picture that the PDS* bloggers are trying to paint is ridiculous on its face -- that the Palin attorney is going to barge unannounced into a kindergarten class and hand a summons to Griffin, somehow terrorizing the kindergartners in the process. Pathetic.

***

*PDS stands for Palin Derangement Syndrome

Why the Alaskan Blogger Jesse Griffin May Be In Trouble

Sarah Palin is a public figure and public figures have a higher standard of proof in libel cases. So if Sarah does have to sue Jesse Griffin of "The Immoral Minority," she will have to prove actual malice, i.e. that Griffin started the Palin divorce rumor knowing very well that the rumor was false, or in reckless disregard as to the truth.

I am not an attorney; I got this information from the Expert Law website.

This is just a layman's speculation, but it seems to me that Griffin could be found culpable of libel for these reasons:

1. He was given a chance to retract his statement and apologize; he did not take it.
2. He continues to opine that his statement was and is true, in spite of denials by the Palins and an apparent lack of any proof, though he may still present evidence at trial;
3. His malice towards Palin is well documented at his own blog, where he constantly insults her, pushes conspiracy theories (like the Trig birth smear) and wishes her bodily harm, specifically, that she fall off the curb and break an ankle. (There may be more examples, I have not exhaustively searched his blog. You can bet that Palin's attorneys have, however.)

Litigation is a crap shoot. You can never tell where a judge or jury will come down on an issue; however, Griffin would do himself a favor by apologizing, retracting his statement and moving on.

Related: Both Stacy McCain at The Other McCain and Dan Riehl at Riehl World View have coordinated their efforts to investigate Jesse Griffin. They imply that they have uncovered information of great interest but are checking with an attorney before publishing it.

Another Black Conservative has summarized the events leading to the outting of Alaskan Blogger Jesse Griffin; it's an informative read.