Will The Real Michael Brown Please Stand Up: Defaming A Decedent

Michael Brown of Ferguson, Missouri, died on August 9, 2014, although he is no longer here his family and friends will celebrate having known him. Michael Brown’s legacy is yet determined, as he no longer has a say in shaping it or know who will gain from any contributions he may have made.                                   

“ The life and legacy of the deceased lies in the memory of the living.”

For anyone to see what your body looks like head to toe from any angle requires many photographers circling you in many patterns of 360 degrees. Each would have to simultaneously capture that moment-in-time.  The photos produced would only mark a small space of time in your life.  The photographer at your 10 o’clock may produce a photo that shows your left as a body with a symmetry our society touts as “perfect”.  The photo from your 2 o’clock right may show a bulge considered a “flaw” by society’s standards.  Whether perfect or flawed the resulting images will offer only a glimpse of an action or a viewer’s perception of the models’ thought transformed into action.

“Al Tompkins, a senior faculty member at the Poynter Institute, a non-profit school for journalism St. Petersburg, Fla., said in a statement posted on the school’s website that the hashtag campaign forces people and news organizations to re-examine how images are received and perceived.”

Adding one-dimensional or distorted photos to a story of the same nature delivers a caricature, than a reasonable representation of a whole person. When presented out of context with ill-intent, at its worst it becomes slanderous. Sites which boast as encyclopedia services, providers of Media content for publishing and who take it on themselves to present their information as objective and factual have a duty. Their duty is to ensure it is just that, particularly when recounting stories about the deceased.

It is not against the law to slander the dead. Currently there is no law in the United States, which responds to complaints of defaming the deceased. Defamation so egregious it steals from their legacy.  Defamation of a decedent so bad that it undermines the well-being of their survivors “who have to bear the brunt of possible character assassination due to familial ties with the defamed decedent?”   Survivors may experience a decline in their revenue or social status or is cause to suffer psycho-physiology damage due to that defamation.”

No law is a magic pill offering treatment for all our ills. If that were the case murder, defrauding the elderly and abuse crimes would not happen, because people would heed the laws’ built-in warnings of punishment by imprisonment or loss of money.   Regardless to its’ non-existent magical properties; it is better to have a law that can address a specific offense than not.

Egregious defamation, defamation with malicious intent or defamation due to negligence occurs through spoken and written words or images when used with indifference and disrespect or intent to do harm. It gives a false or deliberately inaccurate perception of the persons or events involved.

Compare a legacy to a tree or an evolving story.   The details of Michael Brown’s life and most notably his death continues to unfold with parts sparingly provided, but his legacy already bears the burden of defamation through negligent reports of some and by malicious design of others.   Whether Michael Brown’s family or Estate, or another’s would have need and use a law which makes it illegal to slander the dead is a negative statement, because no such law exists.

Let’s change that.  Let’s make it happen.

Sign The Petition

Contact your U. S. Senators  Ask them to endorse the Initiative:

Contact the  President  Ask him to endorse the Initiative.

Contact family &friends.  Ask them to do the same.

Reference:

http://www.morehouse.edu/newscenter/social-media-with-a-message/

Notice:  No photos shown here are the property of AdLLaw.  They may be found on the internet under free source sites.

Examples:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shooting_of_Michael_Brown

 http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Government/2014/08/19/hands-up-story

 http://charlestonthuglife.net/2014/08/14/what-a-sham/

http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/USA-Update/2014/0817/Ferguson-shooting-What-s-known-now-about-Michael-Brown-video

“Darren Wilson, the Ferguson, Mo., police officer whose fatal shooting of Michael Brown touched off more than a week of demonstrations, suffered severe facial injuries, including an orbital (eye socket) fracture, and was nearly beaten unconscious by Brown moments before firing his gun, a source close to the department’s top brass told FoxNews.com.”

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2014/08/20/missouri-cop-was-badly-beaten-before-shooting-michael-brown-says-source/

There is no law against slandering the dead, but there should be.  There should be a law to address serious slander of Michael Brown right now.  A Law for you, me and Darren Wilson in the future.

Dedicated to:  Eugene Taylor.  Gone, but not forgotten

S. Kendrick, AdLLaw/Cadeflaw Resolution Specialist – a.k.a. Dial Dancer

 

Where is the Justice?: Defaming the Dead

If you are familiar with our Blogs, articles and videos where we explain the ways defamation affects a decedent’s legacy, hold on we have more information to share with you. If you are new to the AdLLaw Petition Initiative Blog, check below, there are links which will offer you other material.

This is our most comprehensive argument. Don’t worry, this is easy.

We are a society which has embraced more causes and the use of the Petition than any before us. Our inclusion in causes and signing the associated Petitions announce we are against crimes of bullying which produce physical and emotional harm, abuse of the helpless; the elderly; adults; children and animals. We say we diligently work to eradicate the many forms of discrimination and to see there is legal and social equality.

Due to televised Court Trials we are now third-party participants. We investigate and analyze testimony and evidence, make personal judgments, and we socially punish those we believe guilty and reward those believed innocent regardless of the jury’s verdict. We also discuss or work to change or add laws which we believe are not clear or comprehensive enough to insure there is justice for the victim, accuser or accused

When deciding on a crime which would frame this discussion there were many to select from. The two most powerful was theft and the crime of discrimination. Because, we have written several articles on how defamation robs a decedent of their legacy and their survivors of peace of mind, I settled on discrimination.

Ok….. Moving on to “discrimination”, but first let’s lay to rest the fallacy that says a deceased person is no longer relevant and therefore, there is no need for this Anti-Defamation Initiative. The law says: A deceased person through their heirs or Estate will continue to pay taxes on investments or property they acquired. This makes them relevant.

If a decedent’s words and actions while alive are admissible as witness testimony or establishes eligibility to become a co-defendant then they are very relevant.

 If the law says a decedent is accountable for slander committed when alive then the decedent is highly relevant.

The words, previous actions and perceived character of a decedent are most relevant. It is those areas considered when determining which laws apply and recommending monetary judgments for or against them.

Discrimination and the Law:

Picture a person killed either by accident or with intent.  Are our laws to discriminate when it comes to seeking justice, because, they are persons who come from wealth, poverty, have body piercings, are famous or not, fashionable, heterosexual or gay, has tattoos or trousers worn very low?  Should justice be according to whom has a likable or unlikable personality, attended Prep School or no school, acted sober or silly, or someone whose religion, culture, physical features or manner-of-speech is in the minority? No our laws should not discriminate when it comes to the alleged victim and criminal, and their equal rights to justice.

Now …….For our BIG finale: Another excuse for not enacting this law is; “laws are for governing the living.”  AdLLaw will govern the living. Just as with any law it is first designed as a deterrent against unlawful activities and at last resort a tool to deal with crimes committed; in this case people who practice slander and become enriched through their crimes. It is for the survivors who have to bear the brunt of possible character assassination due to familial ties with the defamed decedent, and whose revenue or social status declines due to that defamation.

See, told you AdLLaw was for the living, that wasn’t hard at all now was it!

 Oh,…I almost forgot, if making it illegal to slander the dead would rob us of our First Amendment Rights then slander laws for the living would not exist either!

If you think this discrimination which allows defamation of a decedent to go unchallenged is wrong then help do something to change that. If you think it is wrong to sue a decedent through their survivors or Estate, but not the other way around then help create the law which will change it. If a deceased person is “relevant” enough for all the above then they are “relevant” enough to have a law which protects them and their legacy from slander.

CHANGE IT. What’s sauce for one is …..Well, you know the rest. AdLLaw 

(Anti-Defamation Legacy Law)

Sign The Petition

Contact Your U.S. Senators  Ask them to endorse the initiative

Contact the President. Ask him to endorse the initiative.

Contact family & friends. Ask them to do the same.

Check out our other material on this subject:

http://antidefamationlegacylawadvocates.org/2014/08/10/who-said-the-dead-cant-be-sued-for-defaming-the-living/

http://antidefamationlegacylawadvocates.org/2014/08/06/deceased-on-trial/

http://antidefamationlegacylawadvocates.org/2014/08/04/a-legacy-everyone-will-have-one-like-it-or-not/

S. Kendrick – a.k.a. Dial Dancer

 

Who said the Dead can’t be sued for Defaming the Living?

Since the start of this organization and throughout its evolution it has been visited by persons who said they had legal knowledge and had come to set the record straight.   They argued there is no need for a law against defaming the deceased.   Going on to explain such a law would give way to frivolous law suits, violate our First Amendment Rights, hamper writers and the dead did not need to worry about their reputations.  It was further pointed out the possibility of a deceased person being sued for an act of slander committed while they were alive was highly unlikely.  

A listener on one of our CadeFlaw radio shows said the probability of a law suit against a decedent for slander happening had about the same chance as an average person affording the Hope Diamond.

Well, the Hope Diamond has just become very affordable.

Well, the Hope Diamond has just become very affordable.

Jesse Ventura file a law suit for defamation against the Estate of Chris Kyle author of American Sniper and won.

In January 2012, former Navy Seal Chris Kyle was on the Opie and Anthony and Bill O’Reilly shows promoting his autobiography titled “American Sniper”.  During the interviews Chris Kyle said in 2006 while in a bar that was holding a wake for a slain Navy Seal he punched a man he dubbed Scruff Face, because of derogatory remarks made about Seals who had lost their lives in Iraq.  Later he would identify the person called Scruff Face as former Minnesota Governor and former Navy Underwater Demolition Team member Jesse Ventura.

Jesse Ventura publicly stated he had never met Chris Kyle, was not in the bar when the punch took place and did not disrespect dead Navy Seals.

In 2012 Jesse Ventura filed a petition for a defamation suit which was approved with a court date of June 2013.

“On Saturday, February 2, 2013, Chris Kyle and Chad Littlefield were shot and killed at the Rough Creek Ranch-Lodge-Resort shooting range by veteran Marine Eddie Ray Routh.”

It is reported Jesse Ventura requested the book’s publishing company, and Chris Kyle’s Widow and Estate Executor remove his name from the book and any possible movie.   They stood by Kyle’s claims of accuracy in the book and denied Ventura’s request.   Jesse Ventua petitioned the Courts to move the suit from Chris Kyle to his Estate. The request was granted.

“On July 29, 2014 Jesse Ventura was awarded $1.8 million in the defamation suit against the estate of Chris Kyle”

The possibility of a deceased person being sued for defamation is a reality.

 But the ability for a family to sue the slanderer of their deceased loved one is an impossibility. 

Because there is no law against defaming the dead.  There is no legal way to hold a slanderer accountable by the Family or Estate of a defamed decedent. 

Let’s change this.

 Sign the Petition:    http://petitions.moveon.org/sign/protect-the-legacy-of.fb51?source=s.fb&r_by=8406728

Contact your U.S. Senator and have them endorse it:    http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm

Contact the President and ask him to endorse it:    http://www.whitehouse.gov/contact/write-or-call#write

Contact family, friends & associates and ask them to do the same.

There are many gaps and omissions in the articles available for research.  Few articles hold an unbiased stance on this situation.  Nowhere did I find an accurate chronicle of events.  I will leave further reading and discussion of the rights or wrongs of either party to you readers.

References:

http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2014-07-30/jesse-ventura-wins-his-not-so-dumb-defamation-suit-against-dead-hero

http://beforeitsnews.com/alternative/2013/02/naval-seal-author-chris-kyle-lies-then-dies-what-next-for-jesse-ventura-2554836.html

http://www.tpnn.com/2014/07/30/the-reaction-to-jesse-venturas-victory-in-his-lawsuit-against-chris-kyles-widow-aint-pretty/

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/jesse-ventura-wins-1-8m-in-american-sniper-defamation-case/

S. Kendrick – a.k.a. Dial Dancer

 

Deceased on Trial

S. Kendrick – a.k.a. Dial Dancer

 

A Legacy: “Everyone Will Have One Like It Or Not”

A person’s Legacy has much in common with a tree.  Some will be saplings others aged oak, but all can continue to grow and provide long after the person tending it has gone.

Each must weather their own type of elemental disturbances, endure tests of enforced glut and drought to insure they can thrive and survive.  When healthy, both can provide physical and emotional shelter and support during life’s torrents.  Seed from them can be the beginning of the new.  Depending upon need, both may be a social and economic mainstay; a source of creativity, inspiration, teaching and a way of validating an existence.

A Legacy like mature trees will bear varied fruits.  Drawing from an achievement, contribution or even a misstep will be according to a user’s specific objectives, ties, goals, tastes and intent.  

Each of us will leave something behind when we die, something you alone touched, so when people look upon it or think of you, you are there.

You will be etched into the minds of others through the stories they share about you, pass on and hand down which becomes part of your Legacy.  You may diligently build your Legacy with the future in mind or be absent minded in its care, or unaware how significant it can be and to whom, but it is yours to fashion and the stories shared should be told according to your words and deeds, and none other.

Like with trees the unprincipled destruction of a Legacy robs future generations of its potential benefits.

There is no law against defaming the dead, and with that there is no way to protect their Legacy from being depreciated. Decedents can be sued through their representatives for defamation committed while alive and have a judgment placed against their Estate. The reverse is not possible.

To keep the unprincipled from vandalizing a Legacy and robbing those who can gain from it there must be a law to help protect the deceased from defamation and having the Legacy wrongly characterized.

Please support the CadeFlaw/AdLLaw Petition Initiative.  There are many laws which protect the deceased as they do the living against theft, except one, defamation.  Let’s change that.

Support Goals:

To have each supporter sign the petition. Contact your Senate Representatives and the President. Let each know you approve of this proposed law and wish them to endorse it as well. Make them aware of the Initiative by sending them the link to the petition which has the purpose and requirements plainly written out. Pass this information on to family, friends and associates and ask them to support as well. 

The Petition

Contact State Senators

Contact U.S. President

Photos from:  http://www.clker.com, www.thisoldyard.net,

Submitted By: S. Kendrick – a.k.a. Dial Dancer