Yonkers, N.Y., Mayor Philip Amicone, who had news racks and copies of the Westchester Guardian seized after the paper ran stories critical of him, was hit with an $8 million verdict Wednesday in federal court.
The Journal News in White Plains, N.Y., reported that a federal jury also ruled the Guardian didn’t defame Amicone when it ran a story on the eve of the 2007 mayoral election that said Amicone frequented gentlemen’s clubs and had gotten a lap dance.
The paper's owner, Sam Zherka, also owns the strip club where Amicone allegedly got the personal dance, called the verdict a triumph for the First Amendment. “I'm humbled and grateful to this jury for their diligence in performing their duty and their respect for the First Amendment,” he told the Journal News.
Former Guardian Editor Richard Blassberg and other plaintiffs in the case claimed the mayor had denied them their First Amendment right to free expression by confiscating the newspapers and news racks in the summer of 2007. The lawsuits maintained the Guardian’s news racks were picked up by city public works employees, and police officers began ticketing Guardian employees who were handing out the paper on city streets.
They were all awarded hundreds of thousands in punitive damages against Amicone, according to the Journal News. Zherka told the paper he intends to hire lawyers to "chase Amicone to the ends of the Earth" to get the $8 million that was awarded to 17 employees and readers of the Guardian who sued Amicone and the city.
Zherka maintains the mayor even cheated the stripper out of her $20 fee for the dance.
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