Free-press group joins lawyer in challenging Alabama's criminal-libel law

By The Associated Press

02.08.01

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MONTGOMERY, Ala. — A national news organization is backing the appeal of Jasper lawyer Garve Ivey, who was convicted of defaming Lt. Gov. Steve Windom through an ex-prostitute's claims during the 1998 election.

Ivey has appealed to the Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals, saying he shouldn't have been convicted because he had no reason to doubt the former call girl's claims that she was raped and beaten by Windom during a series of paid sexual encounters. She later recanted, and prosecutors said her allegations were groundless.

The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press filed a brief in support of Ivey's appeal. The organization's director, Lucy Dalglish, said Jan. 6 the brief was filed because of concerns that Alabama's criminal-defamation law is unconstitutional.

"We're involved because of the mere existence of the criminal-libel statute," Dalglish said. "We take no position on what anyone said and whether it was true. There are civil-libel statutes available. Criminal libel is unnecessary and stifles political speech."

In his appeal filed last month, Ivey said the criminal-defamation law is unconstitutional because it doesn't set special standards for cases involving public officials like Windom.

Attorney General Bill Pryor's office has not filed its response.

Windom spokesman Ragan Ingram said he hasn't seen Ivey's appeal but said it comes as no surprise. "Appeals are standard," Ingram told The Birmingham News. "But we are confident that the appeals court is going to look at this and uphold the conviction."

Ivey and the Reporters Committee said in their filings that criminal-defamation laws in other states have been struck down because they didn't match federal court standards. For the most part, defamation has become a civil issue instead of a criminal one, they said.

"The notion that persons can be imprisoned for speech is completely antithetic to current law and the public conscience, which encourages a robust discussion on matters of public interest," the Reporters Committee said in its filing.

The Reporters Committee, which normally represents the interests of the news media in cases involving First Amendment issues, believes news organizations are threatened by the existence of the criminal-defamation law.

"Most libel cases are brought against the media. There's a bad statute on the books and the most likely entity to get nailed by it is the media," Dalglish said.

The case against Ivey stems from a lawsuit filed against Windom by Melissa Myers Bush during the height of his 1998 race for lieutenant governor. She claimed Windom had been a regular customer when she worked for a Mobile escort service and had grown increasingly abusive over the course of their sessions.

She later claimed Windom's political opponents had paid her thousands of dollars to lie about the former state senator and paid her niece to make up similar allegations.

Though Bush never met with or spoke to Ivey, the jury found that the well-known trial lawyer engineered and secretly bankrolled a smear campaign. In addition to criminal defamation, Ivey was convicted of witness tampering. He was cleared of bribery charges.

Ivey was sentenced to 30 days in jail and fined $1,000 for the two misdemeanor offenses. Bush, who also was charged with defamation and faced unrelated felony charges, received probation. She later was jailed after failing a routine drug test.

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First Amendment proponents decry verdict; 'We typically associate criminal defamation with authoritarian governments,' says Reporters Committee chief.  07.18.02