June 11, 2009 07:23 AM UTC

Can the families sue them?

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• by: DavidThi808

One of the most powerful tools used over the last 10 years to take down the white supremist groups was people sued them in civil court for the costs of the actions of their members. It sucked up all their financing.

Now we have numerous video clips of people like Bill O’Rielly and Rush Limbaugh calling Dr. Tiller a murder. Not that they disagreed with him, but that he was a murderer. And we are now finding equally disgusting support for von Brunn on some of the major right-wing hate sites.

So here’s my question.

Can the families of the people murdered sue the broadcasters & posters who spewed out the venom that encouraged people to go outside the law and murder people? And can they sue the companies that produced their efforts?

If this could work, note would, but could, that could have a significant impact on what is being broadcast and posted. First off, most of the people doing this are clearly in it for the money (as their efforts are hurting the GOP). If they see that they could lose all of their cash, that will cause them to back off.

Equally significant, the companies doing this want to make money, not lose it. And a lawsuit with a reasonable chance of success is a very scary thing – companies hate uncertainity.

As to the mechanics of filing suit? If there is a good chance of success there would be lawyers lining up to work pro-bono and massive contributions coming in to fund costs. That part is easy.

So… doable???