Edwards v. Detroit News, Inc.

• Decision Date: 31 October 2017
• Docket Number: No. 334058,334058
• Parties: James EDWARDS, Plaintiff–Appellant, v. DETROIT NEWS, INC., Defendant–Appellee, and Bankole Thompson, Defendant–Appellee.
• Court: Court of Appeal of Michigan — District of US

322 Mich.App. 1

910 N.W.2d 394

James EDWARDS, Plaintiff–Appellant,

v. DETROIT NEWS, INC., Defendant–Appellee,andBankole Thompson, Defendant–Appellee.

No. 334058

Court of Appeals of Michigan.

Submitted October 5, 2017, at Detroit.

Decided October 31, 2017, 9:00 a.m.

Bristow Law, PLLC (by Kyle James Bristow ) for plaintiff.

Honigman Miller Schwartz and Cohn LLP (by James E. Stewart, Leonard M. Niehoff, and Andrew M. Pauwels ) for defendants.

Before: Gleicher, P.J., and Fort Hood and Swartzle, JJ.

Swartzle, J.

The Restatement (Second) of Torts § 559 lists membership in the Ku Klux Klan as the quintessential illustration of a defamatory statement. In an opinion piece in The Detroit News , columnist Bankole Thompson asserted that radio talk-show host James Edwards is a "leader" of the Ku Klux Klan. There is no record evidence to suggest that Edwards holds a formal leadership position in the Ku Klux Klan, nor is there any record evidence to suggest that he is even a member. Notwithstanding this lack of formal relationship, Edwards has espoused views consistent with those associated with the Klan and, equally as important, he has repeatedly and publicly embraced several individuals who are strongly associated with the Klan.

Mindful of Aesop’s lesson, "A man is known by the company he keeps,"¹ we hold that Edwards cannot make claims of defamation or invasion of privacy and affirm summary disposition in favor of defendants.

I. BACKGROUND

A. THE CONTEXT—THE KU KLUX KLAN AND THE POLITICAL CESSPOOL

To better understand the underlying dispute, it is helpful to review briefly the history of the Ku Klux Klan as well as James Edwards’ radio show, The Political Cesspool .²

1. A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE KU KLUX KLAN

The Ku Klux Klan has a long, sordid history. From a secret club started by six young ex-Confederate soldiers, the Klan transformed itself into a terrorist force bent on turning back Reconstruction in the years immediately following the Civil War. The Klan’s reputed first leader—the Imperial Wizard—was Confederate Army General Nathan Bedford Forrest. In response to the Klan’s growing power, Congress held hearings and passed a strong anti-Klan law that, among other things, authorized the President to declare martial law and suspend the writ of habeas corpus. The Ku Klux Klan faded away in the late 1800s.

The terrorist group experienced a rebirth of sorts during World War I, inspired in no small part by the silent film The Birth of a Nation (1915). During the decades that followed, the strength of the Ku Klux Klan ebbed and flowed, reaching its near-apex during the Civil Rights clashes of the 1960s. Again, in response, Congress held hearings and the Klan’s visibility waned.

During the 1970s, David Duke became the face of the modern-day Ku Klux Klan. Joining the Klan in the late 1960s, Duke eventually became the Grand Wizard of the Knights of the Ku Klux Klan. Duke later left the organization and started the National Association for the Advancement of White People, a white nationalist group. Duke currently hosts a radio show and is a frequent guest on The Political Cesspool.

Stephen Donald "Don" Black succeeded Duke as Grand Wizard of the Knights of the Ku Klux Klan. Black was later arrested and convicted of trying to overthrow a small island republic the Commonwealth of Dominica. He later started a bulletin-board system in the 1990s called Stormfront.org. The bulletin board remains active today as an online forum for white nationalism, white separatism, Holocaust denial, neo-Nazism, and racism, among other topics.

While its messaging and tactics have changed over the years, at its core, the Ku Klux Klan has remained a loosely organized movement fueled by racism, white supremacism, anti-Semitism, and nativism.

2. THE POLITICAL CESSPOOL

Edwards is the creator and host of The Political Cesspool radio show and website. He started the radio show in October 2004. Based in Memphis, Tennessee, the show went on a brief hiatus in 2008, but otherwise has been on the air continuously to present day. The radio show is currently carried on the Liberty News Radio Network.

Edwards published his "Statement of Principles" on the show’s website. Among other statements, Edwards proclaims the following:

• "The Political Cesspool Radio Program stands for the [sic] The Dispossessed Majority. We represent a philosophy that is pro-White."

• "We wish to revive the White birthrate above replacement level fertility and beyond to grow the percentage of Whites in the world relative to other races."

• "America would not be a prosperous land of opportunity if the founding stock were not Europeans.... You can’t have a First World nation with a Third World population."

• "Secession is a right of all people and individuals. It was successful in 1776 and this show honors those who tried to make it successful from 1861–1865."

• "OUR MOTTO: No Retreat, No Surrender, No Apologies."

• As part of his published principles, Edwards includes an endorsement from a person asserting that there is a "genocide against European–Americans," subsequently expanded or clarified to mean "the genocide of immigration and intermarriage."

Immediately below his Statement of Principles, Edwards is pictured with Duke, sitting together at a speaking engagement in Memphis, Tennessee.

Also included on the website is a page titled "A Short History of the Political Cesspool Radio Program." As part of the radio show’s history, Edwards claims that the show has filled an important gap in the public debate "because nobody else was speaking up for our People." As part of the show’s political activism, he recounts how his radio show "save[d] three confederate parks" from the efforts of "a couple of black malcontents in Memphis" and other "black agitators." One of the parks in question was named after General Nathan Bedford Forrest, and, according to Edwards, the park is "the burial site of the legendary hero." Edwards characterizes his show’s listeners as "pro-Confederate supporters," and he maintains that as the host, he has "an unapologetically pro-White viewpoint" and his is "the premier voice for European Americans in the mainstream media."

With regard to his show’s reach and influence, Edwards recounts his show’s expansion in the section titled "Sitting on the Cusp of Greatness." Although in his eyes the show was "quite accomplished" as of October 2006, the show had not reached its potential in terms of listenership. But, in Edwards’ words, "This was when Don and Derek Black offered to run the Cesspool simultaneously on their internet radio network, giving the Memphis dynamo access to another legion of loyal listeners. The marriage was a perfect fit." As noted earlier, Don Black was the one-time Grand Wizard of the Knights of the Ku Klux Klan, and his Internet radio network is the aforementioned Stormfront.org website that he created.

As for guests and interviewees of the show, Edwards claims that they span the political and ideological spectrum. In his complaint, he asserts that he has interviewed Patrick Buchanan, Lieutenant General Hal Moore, actor Gary Sinise, Dr. Alveda King (the niece of the late Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.), legislators, and religious leaders, among others. It does appear from the record that Edwards has interviewed leaders and thinkers with diverse political and ideological viewpoints, some of whom could be considered in the mainstream.

With that said, Edwards makes clear in his show’s Statement of Principles that he makes "no attempt to give [listeners] ‘both sides.’ " He has a strong ideological viewpoint, he voices this viewpoint on the show, and he highlights this through several of the show’s frequent guests, including Duke and Sam Dickson, Jr. (Duke’s association with the Ku Klux Klan is noted earlier. As for Dickson, he has represented Ku Klux Klan members in court in the past.) Both have been on the radio show dozens of times, and Duke often writes posts for The Political Cesspool ’s blog, including, among other things, a piece addressing the purported "Jewish extremist takeover of America."

B. BANKOLE THOMPSON’S OPINION PIECE IN THE DETROIT NEWS

On March 17, 2016, The Detroit News published an opinion piece by Bankole Thompson in its "Think" section. The piece was titled, "Jewish leaders fear Trump presidency." The piece centered on concerns expressed by Detroit-area Jewish leaders regarding the involvement of white supremacists during the 2016 presidential campaign. In the piece, Thompson made the following assertion:

Of particular note to some in the Jewish community is the unprecedented support the Trump campaign has received among white supremacist groups like the Ku Klux Klan and its leaders like James Edwards, David Duke and Thomas Robb, the national director of the Knights of the Ku Klux Klan in Arkansas.

C. A DEMAND LETTER, A RESPONSE LETTER, AND A PUBLISHED CLARIFICATION

Edwards became aware of Thompson’s opinion piece shortly after publication. Edwards’ lawyer, Mr. Kyle Bristow, sent defendants a letter in April 2016 demanding a retraction. Mr. Bristow asserted that Edwards "is not now, nor has he ever been, associated with the Ku Klux Klan—much less a leader of it." He further maintained that Edwards "has no criminal history whatsoever, while the Ku Klux Klan is a criminal terrorist organization which has been responsible for beatings, bombings, murders, and other heinous crimes throughout American history." Thompson’s opinion piece constituted libel per se, according to the letter.

Defendants’ legal counsel responded in writing several days later. In that letter, defendants did not argue that Edwards did, in fact, have a formal leadership role with the Ku Klux Klan. Rather, defendants pointed out that the statement at issue was made in an editorial about the campaign for the presidency, that Edwards invited criticism with his on-air and written views, and that the First Amendment protects political debate. Without admitting that any reasonable reader would be confused,...