Jesse Ventura's Defamation Suit Victory

In July a jury awarded Jesse Ventura $1.8 million in his defamation case against the estate of Chris Kyle, a heralded military sniper who won several commendations and claimed to be the most lethal sniper in US military history.  Kyle stated in his book American Sniper that he had an altercation in a San Diego area bar with a man he referred to as "Scruff Face" who was making deragatory remarks about President Bush and said that the navy seals "deserve to lose a few".  In interviews promoting the book he identified "Scruff Face" as Jesse Ventura.  As a result Ventura was shunned by many.

Ventura claimed that the incident never happened and that he had never met or even heard of Chris Kyle before the book was written.  He filed a lawsuit against Kyle for defamation in 2012, but Kyle died tragically in an incident at a shooting range in Texas in February of 2013 before the suit began.  At that point Ventura made Kyle's estate the subject of the lawsuit. 

Kyle's widow was on FOX News with Bill O'Reilly last year when O'Reilly said that Ventura should drop the case if he wants to restore his reputation.  In fact it was getting a jury to award him $1.8 million that restored his reputation, because now people are forced to conclude that the evidence backed Ventura's story.  That's why we have civil litigation and defamation lawsuits.  It's how we as a society choose to settle these disputes rather than resort to a duel as occurred 200 years ago when Vice President Aaron Burr fatally wounded Alexander Hamilton. 

I want to make it clear that I have no use for Jesse "The Body" Ventura.  I consider him a loudmouth, arrogant jerk.  I think it's admirable that he served our country as a navy seal, but I have no interest in wrasslin' and never was a fan of his political career or conspiracy nut theory show.  On top of that he is an avowed atheist and I am a devout Christian. 

However, the reaction to his defamation suit victory really hit me the wrong way.  Aren't people interested in facts?  Doesn't the truth mean anything anymore?  Defamation is notoriously hard to prove, especially for celebrities like Jesse Ventura.  The case was won because the jury looked at the evidence and concluded that Chris Kyle made up the whole story, and profited an estimated $6 million from the sale of 1.5 million copies of the book in question.  The promotion for the book included the story of the alleged altercation, so one could assume that the profits from the book came in large part from the fabrication. 

Sarah Palin called him a jackass and said that suing Kyle's widow wouldn't help his reputation.  Again, you might not like the fact that Ventura sued the estate, but had he dropped the lawsuit Kyle's claims about Ventura would have gone forever unaddressed.  On Twitter CNN's Anderson Cooper said "has he no shame?", but apparently he never tweeted that Kyle's lies which were now confirmed by a jury were shameless.  The fact is Kyle's story about Ventura makes many of the other claims he has made about himself questionable.

This is not to say that Kyle didn't deserve the many commendations he received, nor does it mean that his service to our country shouldn't be applauded.  But like it or not, Jesse Ventura also served as a navy seal and nobody has the right to destroy his reputation with lies to generate book sales.  

The famous attorney Alan Dershowitz defended Claus von Bulow who was one of the most unlikeable men in America, simply because he felt like the system was railroading the guy.  Our justice system is supposed to work for people we don't like as well as for people we do. What is supposed to matter is the law and the facts.         

I felt the same way when Paula Jones sued Bill Clinton for sexual harrassment while he was governor of Arkansas.  I didn't like her, and I felt that her suit was frivolous and politically motivated.  However, the Supreme Court ruled 9-0 in her favor which gave her the right to pursue it.  At that point Clinton was obligated to either go through the process and tell the truth or settle out of court.  Instead he chose door #3 - lie and risk impeachment.  Some people thought that lying about such a trivial thing as sex was no big deal, but the point is the president of the United States was denying an American citizen due process by obstructing justice.  Whether you liked Paula Jones or not she had the right to sue by virtue of a Supreme Court ruling.  

Now that this matter is resolved Ventura can now go back to his delusional plan to run for president in 2016 or to his goofy TV show or whatever else he decides to do, knowing that he has forever settled this issue of publicly disrespecting his fellow navy seals.  That's how our system works, and that's how it should work.