By: E&P Staff A libel suit over a satirical column by Randell Beck, executive editor of the Argus Leader in Sioux Falls, S.D. can go ahead, a judge has ruled.
Circuit Judge Kathleen Caldwell denied a motion by the newspaper to dismiss the lawsuit brought by Dan Scott, president of the Sioux Falls Development Foundation.
Scott sued the newspaper and Beck in August over a column Beck wrote last June about a speech Scott gave to an area Chamber of Commerce. The column included a "letter of apology" from Scott.
Beck and the Argus Leader argued that the column is an obvious parody. Scott, however, contends some readers took the column seriously.
In her ruling, Judge Caldwell said the claim the column is protected by the First Amendment is not sufficient to keep the lawsuit from proceeding.
"Further, the First Amendment of our Constitution certainly does not provide the defendant with a complete shield from suit, as statements couched as 'opinions' are subject to the potential of being deemed defamatory in nature," Caldwell wrote, according to an account of the decision by Argus Leader reporter Matthew Gruchow.
The article quoted the newspaper's attorney, Steve Sanford, as saying Caldwell's decision was made without reading the column itself.
"We wanted her to read the column, see that it's parody, and then dismiss the case, because parody is most certainly covered by the First Amendment," he said. "She decided to only look at the complaint, and the column was not attached to the complaint."
Sanford said the lawsuit is in its very earliest stage.
"We haven't even answered the complaint," he told the newspaper.
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