Heartland Institute Threatens To Sue Anyone Who Comments On Leaked Documents

Layzej writes "Bloggers around the world have been commenting on recently leaked Heartland Institute documents that reveal their internal strategies to discredit climate science. These posters are now under threat of legal action. According to the Heartland Institute 'the individuals who have commented so far on these documents did not wait for Heartland to confirm or deny the authenticity of the documents. We believe their actions constitute civil and possibly criminal offenses for which we plan to pursue charges and collect payment for damages'"

What, no comments?

[salvorHardin]

Strangely, there don't seem to be many comments on the subject of "Heartland Institute Threatens To Sue Anyone Who Comments...".

Interestingly

[Anonymous Coward]

Their view of law is very similar to their view of science.

Streissand

[Sqr(twg)]

Hiring Barbara Streissand as a legal consultant was not their smartest move.

Pants on fire.

[sgt scrub]

The best way to win in the court room is to prove a witness has a history of lying. This begs the question, "Who from Heartland could be a credible witness"?

Here iz me commenting on ur leaked docz.

[forkfail]

And to make sure that there's some substance:

My read on the documents is that they provide conclusive proof that the Heartland Institute promoted systematic criminal fraud, corrupted science and effectively engaged in treasonous activity.

There. Now sue me.

Incidentally, from their website

[Kupfernigk]

Those persons who posted these documents and wrote about them before we had a chance to comment on their authenticity should be ashamed of their deeds, and their bad behavior should be taken into account when judging their credibility now and in the future.

Presumably they have the same attitude to the leaked University of East Anglia emails, and have campaigned to have the people responsible for the leak, and the many, many denialists who misrepresented their contents, taken to court.

Heartland Institute Corruption?

[andydread]

I would seem that the Heartland institute [arstechnica.com] is a truly corrupt entity. The Heartland institute [arstechnica.com] cannot expect to stifle discussion of their seemingly corrupt behaviour. The Heartland institute [arstechnica.com] must not have heard of the Streisand Effect. Maybe the Heartland institute [arstechnica.com] should get a a clue and stop trying to squelch discussion. Its funny that the Heartland institute [arstechnica.com] is trying to squelch speech yet the Heartland institute [arstechnica.com] claims to be for free speech. The Heartland institute [arstechnica.com]were at the front of the line waving internal documents of climate scientists. Yet The Heartland institute [arstechnica.com] is now threatening to sue anyone who discusses their internal Documents. Such pathetic doublestandards highlight the hypocrisy of the Heartland institute [arstechnica.com] A poster child for corruption.

Re:what does waiting have to do with anything?

[robot256]

Clearly they are false because no organization owns more than one scanner! This is clear evidence that someone other than their organization scanned some of the documents. /sarcasm

Re:reputation? you never HAD one, sorry

[ColdWetDog]

When you have the law in your favor, bang on the law,
When you have the facts in your favor, bang on the facts,
When you have neither the law nor the facts in your favor, bang on the table.

I WANT TO BE SUED

[glorybe]

I hasten to offend in every way I can the Heartland Institute. I hope they spend a vast fortune trying to sue me. I'm willing to do most anything to expose these creeps and could care less whether I win or lose a law suit with them. Fact is I am immune from bad consequences to a civil court. I intend to remain immune as well. In my state a person on Social Security, disabled who only owns one home and one vehicle can not be touched by a civil suit. So if these think tank types wish me to let up on them they better give me a small fortune so i would feel some sorrow if they win in court. I think these creeps rape babies. They might be the ones who murdered that Ramsey child. They might even have murdered Nicole Simpson. Worse yet I suspect they are Republicans.

Re:what does waiting have to do with anything?

[thisnamestoolong]

"Koch shill"? I would have gone with "Kochsucker", myself...

Re:what does waiting have to do with anything?

[Man On Pink Corner]

Yes, but when have the Protocols of the Elders of Zion ever actually predicted anything?

Just don't ask the same question about climate models.