Staff Reports
In a shocking turn of events, conservative pundit Mark Steyn has been slapped with a whopping $1 million in damages by a jury. Why, you ask? Well, it seems that Steyn had the audacity to criticize the work of a so-called “climate scientist” back in 2012. Can you believe it? Apparently, free speech is no longer a thing in this country.
Mark Steyn Ordered by Jury to Pay Former Penn State 'Climate Scientist' $1M in Defamation Casehttps://t.co/lLOgwHQJDN
— RedState (@RedState) February 9, 2024
The alleged victim in this case is Michael Mann, a professor at Penn State University who is known for his famous “hockey stick” graph. Now, this graph might have made Mann famous, but it also made him a target for skeptics. And who can blame them? The graph conveniently showed a dramatic rise in global temperatures, conveniently fitting the left’s narrative of imminent climate doom.
In 2012, a fellow by the name of Rand Simberg published a blog post comparing investigations into Mann’s work to the case of Jerry Sandusky, the former football coach convicted of sexually assaulting children. Now, let’s be clear here, no one is saying that Mann is a child molester. Simberg was simply pointing out the similarities in the way their cases were handled by Penn State University.
Enter Mark Steyn, who referenced Simberg’s blog post in an article he wrote for National Review. Steyn had the nerve to call Mann’s research “fraudulent.” Well, I guess you can’t have an opinion anymore without being sued for defamation. It’s a sad day for free speech, I tell you.
Steyn has vowed to appeal this outrageous decision. After all, the jury’s award of only $1 in compensatory damages shows that Mann didn’t suffer any actual harm. And let’s not forget that this case is not about the veracity of climate change, as the judge rightly instructed the jury.
