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Should Zimmerman sue the media and Martin's family in civil court?

The Man

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No poll, just what do you think?

I think he should hire a good team of lawyers and take them for all they're worth. Perhaps he could also sue President Obama since he decided to stick his filthy, ugly nose into it?
 
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No, that's utterly ridiculous.
 
There is no need for even more frivolous lawsuits.
 
I'm as anti-frivolous lawsuit as the next person, but Zimmerman suing in civil court would be far from frivolous.

Zimmerman has a STRONG case against any media personality and organization that declared him a "murderer" as a fact - and many did.
 
I'm as anti-frivolous lawsuit as the next person, but Zimmerman suing in civil court would be far from frivolous.

Do you know what the hell that would do. It's the exact reason I hate defamation laws you will get anyone involved in a publicized court case and lose to sue, all politicians would sue the media, and pundits would sue the media aswell if anything bad is said about them. It sets a very bad precedent.
 
No, that's utterly ridiculous.

He's already sued NBC for editing the 911 call -- if you remember, they made it sound like the first thing Zimmerman said was that Trayvon Martin was black.

He certainly has grounds for suing CNN for broadcasting his Social Security Number.

I'm pretty sure there are more -- and equally sure his attorneys have a list of them.
 
I think he should. That way we won't ever have to put up with Nancy Grace, Tru TV, Crime TV, or anything else like it ever again. Get that crap off my tv! I don't want to hear about another silly trial ever again.
 
FLORIDA law not only makes a person immune from prosecution if the person had acted "in self defense," but also (rare for ANY civil case) specifically says the person suing then has to completely pay all attorney fees, courts costs, and court expenses of the Defendant. Thus, if they sued GZ, the law REQUIRES they pay all of GZ's attorney fees, all expenses of defense and all court costs as punishment for bringing the lawsuit.

This is unique to Florida. Florida law does NOT want people sued if they acted "in self defense." Generally people who are sued and win still are out all their attorney fees and costs of the trial. In Florida, for self-defense, the law REQUIRES the person using to reimburse all of it.
 
Do you know what the hell that would do. It's the exact reason I hate defamation laws you will get anyone involved in a publicized court case and lose to sue, all politicians would sue the media, and pundits would sue the media aswell if anything bad is said about them. It sets a very bad precedent.

A bad precedent of what?

So Zimmerman should just be all "aww shucks, golly gee stuff happens" over this whole thing, even though the media and martin's family and Barack Obama painted him publicly as a racist murderer and now will be seen as that by some for the rest of his life?
 
Do you know what the hell that would do. It's the exact reason I hate defamation laws you will get anyone involved in a publicized court case and lose to sue, all politicians would sue the media, and pundits would sue the media aswell if anything bad is said about them. It sets a very bad precedent.

People that make themselves public figures (politicians, celebrities, pundits, etc) have no expectation of immunity from criticism and/or parody.
Zimmerman is a private citizen.
 
Could he sue for the revealing of personal information CNN accidentally posted his ssn.
 
A bad precedent of what?

So Zimmerman should just be all "aww shucks, golly gee" over this whole thing, even though the media and martin's family and Barack Obama painted him publicly as a racist murderer?

It would set the precedent of if the media says anything bad about you you can sue them and also it's the U.S. you know this will get stretched to that at some point. You have to let media have some room as they over-hype everything and also it was a ****ing murder trial.
 
There is no lawsuit against the President and TM's parents have nothing anyway.
 
People that make themselves public figures (politicians, celebrities, pundits, etc) have no expectation of immunity from criticism and/or parody.
Zimmerman is a private citizen.

I frankly don't care the feelings of a private citizen either.
 
There is no lawsuit against the President and TM's parents have nothing anyway.

Trayvon Martin's parents won an estimated $1 million settlement from the homeowners' association. Well, actually, they didn't WIN it, the insurance company settled.
 
It would set the precedent of if the media says anything bad about you you can sue them and also it's the U.S. you know this will get stretched to that at some point. You have to let media have some room as they over-hype everything and also it was a ****ing murder trial.

If you're not a public figure, which George Zimmerman is not, you can sue the media for defamation.
 
It would set the precedent of if the media says anything bad about you you can sue them and also it's the U.S. you know this will get stretched to that at some point. You have to let media have some room as they over-hype everything and also it was a ****ing murder trial.

It would set the precedent that the media should get the story right before they air it.
This "it bleeds, it leads" mentality needs to end.
 
Zimmerman has a great case against MSNBC, Al Sharpston, the NY Times, LA Times and anyone else in the media who stated as a fact that Zimmerman is a murderer who murdered TM - using the word "murder."

Accusing someone of a crime is slander per se (if spoke) and libel per se if written. This shifts the burden of proof to the Defendant to prove the accusation. Since GZ was just found not guilty, this would be difficult for those organizations and media talking heads to prove Zimmerman is a "murderer" who committed "murder." And if they can't, they are 100% liable - and for punitive damages too as falsely publicly calling someone a criminal is presumed it law to be "malicious."
 
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