福克斯新闻 法官驳回科文顿一高中生对《华盛顿邮报》的起诉

Breaking news tonight on the $250 million defamation¹ lawsuit² that was filed by Covington Catholic Student Nicholas Sandmann against the Washington Post to federal judges has just issued a ruling. Chief Breaking News Correspondent Trace Gallagher got THE STORY for us tonight. Trace? And Martha, the breaking news is that lawsuit has been dismissed. In the lawsuit and in court, the attorneys for Nick Sandmann argued that The Washington Post ignore journalistic standards and bullied³ the teen by "publishing a series of false and defamatory print and online articles which effectively provided a worldwide megaphone to smear⁴ a young boy who was in its view an acceptable casualty in their war against the President." But federal judge William Bertelsman appointed by Jimmy Carter dismissed the case saying the accusations⁵ were not supported by the plain language of The Washington Post article. The judge went on to say, when it comes to modern libel laws, there are many defenses, even in the case of defamatory statements.

今晚的突发新闻是，联邦法官刚刚发布一场诽谤官司的裁决，该诉讼是由科文顿天主教高中学生尼古拉斯·桑德曼提出的，要求《华盛顿邮报》索赔2.5亿美元。今晚的THE STORY节目中，我们要与突发新闻首席记者特雷斯·加拉格尔连线。特雷斯？玛莎，这条突发新闻是，诉讼被驳回了。在诉讼案和法庭中，尼克·桑德曼的律师表示，《华盛顿邮报》无视新闻准则，而且欺负青少年，他们“在报纸上和网上刊登了一系列虚假的诽谤文章，这有效地扩大了全世界诋毁一个年轻男孩的声音，在他们看来，他是一件在反对总统的斗争中可以接受的牺牲品。”但吉米·卡特任命的联邦法官威廉·贝特尔斯曼驳回此案，他表示，《华盛顿邮报》文章中的简明语言并不支持指控内容。法官还说，根据现代诽谤法，有许多辩解，甚至在诽谤性言论的案件中也有。

Remember, Nick Sandmann was widely vilified⁶ after cell phone video clip showed him staring down Native American Nathan Phillips. But the full video clearly shows that Sandmann and his Covington High School classmates were not the instigators. But Judge Bertelsman says, it appears Nathan Phillips felt he was being blocked by the students and his opinion, the judge wrote, "he -- meaning Mr. Phillips, passed those conclusions onto The Post. They may have been erroneous, but as discussed above, they are an option protected by the First Amendment⁷. And The post is not liable for publishing those opinions." Nick Sandmann's father release this statement about the dismissal. Quoting, "If what was done to Nicholas is not legally actionable, then no one is safe." Sandmann's lawyers also wrote, quote, "The law must protect innocent minors⁸ targeted by journalists publishing click-bait sensationalized news." The attorneys are also planning to appeal the decision, lawsuits⁹ against CNN and NBC are still pending¹⁰, Martha. Yeah, that one was far from over, I think. Trace, thank you very much.

要记得，尼克·桑德曼曾被大肆诽谤，这发生在一个手机视频短片发布之后，该短片显示，他盯着美国原住民南森·菲利普斯看。但是完整视频清楚地显示，桑德曼和他科文顿的高中同学并非煽动者。但贝特尔斯曼法官表示，南森·菲利普斯看起来感觉自己被学生们堵住了，他认为，法官写道：“他——指菲利普斯先生——把这些结论传递给了《华盛顿邮报》。他们可能是错误的，但正如上述讨论，他们是被第一修正案所保护的。《华盛顿邮报》对发表这些观点并不负有责任。”尼克·桑德曼的父亲发表了这一声明，关于驳回案件的声明。表示“如果他们对尼古拉斯的所作所为在法律上并不可行，那么没有一个人是安全的。”桑德曼的律师也写道：“法律必须保护被记者中伤的无辜未成年人，这些标题党记者发表了危言耸听的新闻。”律师还计划对决定提出上诉，对CNN和NBC的诉讼尚未审理，玛莎。是的，我觉得这件事离结束还远着呢。特雷斯，非常感谢你。

1 defamation   

n.诽谤；中伤

参考例句：

• Character defamation can be either oral or written.人格诽谤既可以是口头的也可以是书面的。
• The company sued for defamation.这个公司因受到诽谤而提起诉讼。

2 lawsuit   

n.诉讼，控诉

参考例句：

• They threatened him with a lawsuit.他们以诉讼威逼他。
• He was perpetually involving himself in this long lawsuit.他使自己无休止地卷入这场长时间的诉讼。

3 bullied   

adj.被欺负了v.恐吓，威逼( bully的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• My son is being bullied at school. 我儿子在学校里受欺负。
• The boy bullied the small girl into giving him all her money. 那男孩威逼那个小女孩把所有的钱都给他。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 smear   

v.涂抹；诽谤，玷污；n.污点；诽谤，污蔑

参考例句：

• He has been spreading false stories in an attempt to smear us.他一直在散布谎言企图诽谤我们。
• There's a smear on your shirt.你衬衫上有个污点。

5 accusations   

n.指责( accusation的名词复数 )；指控；控告；（被告发、控告的）罪名

参考例句：

• There were accusations of plagiarism. 曾有过关于剽窃的指控。
• He remained unruffled by their accusations. 对于他们的指控他处之泰然。

6 vilified   

v.中伤，诽谤( vilify的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He was vilified in newspapers. 他在报纸上受到了诽谤。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• She was vilified by the press for her controversial views. 因她持有异议，新闻界对她横加挞伐。 来自互联网

7 amendment   

n.改正，修正，改善，修正案

参考例句：

• The amendment was rejected by 207 voters to 143.这项修正案以207票对143票被否决。
• The Opposition has tabled an amendment to the bill.反对党已经就该议案提交了一项修正条款。

8 minors   

n.未成年人( minor的名词复数 )；副修科目；小公司；[逻辑学]小前提v.[主美国英语]副修，选修，兼修( minor的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• The law forbids shops to sell alcohol to minors. 法律禁止商店向未成年者出售含酒精的饮料。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He had three minors this semester. 这学期他有三门副修科目。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 lawsuits   

n.诉讼( lawsuit的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Lawsuits involving property rights and farming and grazing rights increased markedly. 涉及财产权，耕作与放牧权的诉讼案件显著地增加。 来自辞典例句
• I've lost and won more lawsuits than any man in England. 全英国的人算我官司打得最多，赢的也多，输的也多。 来自辞典例句

10 pending   

prep.直到，等待…期间；adj.待定的；迫近的

参考例句：

• The lawsuit is still pending in the state court.这案子仍在州法庭等待定夺。
• He knew my examination was pending.他知道我就要考试了。