To All
Having given the matter a little time to think it over, I have decided that I cannot allow Jenna's recent attack on me on this thread to go unanswered. Silence may give the impression that I accept the truth of her position.
Jenna informed me via private mail dated December 24 that I was named and involved in “ a legal libel suit”, apparently because I had sent a “doctored e-mail to Scott”.
I replied that I had not. Jenna replied that there “no way he could have gotten it if you had not sent it to him.” In another private mail a few minutes earlier, Jenna said that I was “inciting Scott for my own amusement”.
The fact is that I sent no e-mail, doctored or not, to Scott. I did not copy to Scott ANY of the several e-mails referring to Scott that Jenna sent me from December 3. And the irony is that I deliberately did not copy these messages because I did not want to exacerbate an unfortunate personal situation. They are not pleasant.
It is unlikely I would lie about this. Since Jenna has launched a suit against me, the lie would emerge in discovery.
The only e-mail from Jenna to me that I copied to Scott was the one dated December 24 referred to above, when I basically asked Scott what on earth was going on.
Given the initiation of Jenna's “libel suit”, I thought it would be prudent to ask my attorney to set me up with an attorney who is versed in the law of libel and defamation. At that time I will ask him whether Jenna's statements about me are actionable.
I do not know at this time whether they are. If they might constitute a basis for a cause of action, I have the time and the resources to pursue the matter, not because I wish to abridge Jenna's free speech rights, but because I believe that vilification should not be a part of civilized discourse, on SI or anywhere else.
I will also, after obtaining legal advice, publish on the net the correspondence between Jenna and myself.
Sorry to have taken up your time with this petty matter. I do feel I have to set the record straight. |
