Alabama Court Orders 90-Day Term For Blog writer As NY Times Flubs Defamation Tale

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Alabama Court Orders 90-Day Term For Blog writer As NY Times Flubs Defamation Tale
An Alabama judge imposed a 90-day sentence this week on corruption-fighting Alabama blogger Roger Shuler, whom authorities have jailed indefinitely for alleging a sex scandal involving a prominent attorney. At right, Shuler, now 57, is shown puffy-faced in his mug shot following his arrest Oct. 23 in his garage in a suburb of Birmingham. In a quickie trial Jan. 14, Shelby County District Judge Ronald Jackson found Shuler guilty of resisting arrest Oct. 23 and ruled that force by Shelby Deputy Sheriff Chris Blevins was justified under the circumstances. Shuler asked for a continue to gather evidence, said authorities showed no warrant, and he denied reaching for his pocket, as Blevins alleged. Three other deputies helped cart Shuler off to jail, where he has remained on a contempt of court charge with no bail permitted. Meanwhile, the New York Times reported Jan. 12 on the threats to civil rights law posed by the libel case underlying Shuler’s jailing. The Times headlined the story, Blogger’s Incarceration Raises First Amendment Questions. National coverage in the Sunday edition of the nation's most influential newspaper is a net positive for Shuler and the First Amendment, of course, in the face of such dire circumstances. But the Times report by Campbell Robertson seemed to have a significant error, and also a biased tone that undercuts the fight for First Amendment freedoms. To summarize developments, Alan Colmes invited me to return to his show Jan. 17 at 7 p.m. (EST) on his nationally syndicated radio show. After Shuler’s arrest, Colmes promptly took a national leadership role on his show and his blogsite, Liberaland, in the showcasing the injustice. I appeared following commentary here, which included one column that received more than 45,000 hits. Here are the basics of the situation: Alabama attorney Robert Riley Jr., son of two-term former Alabama Gov. Bob Riley (2003 to 2011), and lobbyist Liberty Duke sued Shuler in July for libel. Shuler had claimed the two had an affair that broke up Duke’s marriage after Riley paid for an abortion. The plaintiffs submitted affidavits denying an affair.