Shirley Sherrod's Legal Outlook for Suing Andrew Breitbart

(July 29) -- Shirley Sherrod announced today at a convention of the National Association of Black Journalists that she planned to sue Andrew Breitbart over the infamous video he posted on his website that led to her eventual ~~firing~~ forced resignation from the USDA.

Last week, with speculation over Sherrod's next course of action mounting, Surge Desk spoke to Stephen Solomon, a journalism professor at NYU and a specialist in libel law, only to discover that she might not have much of a case against the conservative impresario after all.

1. First, a disclaimer.
The devil is in the details. As with any legal matter, the case would probably rest on details that the general public does not know yet, Solomon said. The facts of her case could include information different from what we know presently.

2. Sherrod's status as a public figure makes her case different.
Sherrod would have a tougher time than the average citizen because she works at the USDA and is therefore a public official, Solomon said. Libel cases are much harder for officials and other public figures to win because they have to prove there was "actual malice" involved in the published falsehood -- in this case, the video or the blog post written along with the video.

3. What is actual malice?
It means the person or persons who published the statement did so either knowing that it was false or with "reckless disregard" for whether it was false. In other words, Sherrod would have to prove that Breitbart posted the video knowing it had been edited in such a way as to damage her reputation. Or, she would have to prove that he referred to her story as "racist" knowing full well that it was not -- or that he didn't care either way.

4. Why would Sherrod sue?
Solomon points out that people generally sue for defamation to correct the record and restore their reputations. But the record in this case has been very publicly corrected and her reputation quickly restored. In fact, "it's hard to imagine a more prominent correction," Solomon said. Sherrod has received apologies from NAACP President Ben Jealous, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack and even President Obama. (Though she hasn't yet gotten one from Breitbart himself.) Plus, she's been offered a new job at the USDA. "In a way, she's in better shape now than she was before," Solomon said.

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