{"id":301372,"date":"2024-02-12T08:44:02","date_gmt":"2024-02-12T07:44:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=301372"},"modified":"2024-02-12T08:44:04","modified_gmt":"2024-02-12T07:44:04","slug":"the-travesty-of-mark-steyns-1m-libel-loss-to-hockey-stick-climate-chart-creator-michael-mann","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=301372","title":{"rendered":"The Travesty of Mark Steyn\u2019s $1m Libel Loss to \u2018Hockey Stick\u2019 Climate Chart Creator Michael Mann"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From The Daily Sceptic<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

BY\u00a0CHRIS MORRISON<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Mark Steyn loses in Washington D.C. in the defamation trial surrounding Michael E. Mann\u2019s unbelievable temperature \u2018hockey stick\u2019, while President Biden cannot be criminally charged for taking home state secret papers on the grounds that he is gaga. Only in Democrat America. There was initial relief in the usual quarters at the slaying of Steyn, but the \u2018settled\u2019 climate science crowd is now stuck with the ghastly Mann and his ludicrous hockey stick. That should be punishment enough for anyone saying the debate about climate change is over.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It has hardly begun, but now there is a new breath of life for the once ubiquitous poster temperature scare that was centre stage<\/a> in the 2009 Climategate scandal, and has been stinking up the science joint ever since. With Net Zero coming apart at the seams as reality about mass deindustrialisation and starvation beckons, the politicised science stories forecasting climate Armageddon are starting to attract wider public scepticism. As all cults eventually find, the sandwich-board fearmongering starts to wear thin when the forecast disasters fail to come to pass. Self-appointed promoters of irrationality descend into wilder and wilder flights of fantasy to re-capture the fleeting moments when their emotional rantings offered them a temporary place in the spotlight.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Last week a jury in Washington D.C. awarded Mann $1 million in \u2018punitive\u2019 damages against Mark Steyn, although damages for Mann\u2019s reputation was set at a derisory $1. In itself, this should see the larger award set aside, since in recent times the Supreme Court has been cracking down on punitive awards more than nine times<\/a> the damage amount.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The disconnect between the two awards hints at the political nature of the case. Steyn and a fellow writer Rand Simberg had criticised the hockey stick which abolished the Medieval Warming Period. Running a 1,000-year slightly declining temperature line until a sudden claimed human-caused spike in the 20th century removed the concept of natural climatic variation for a whole generation. The court heard evidence from a senior statistician working at Mann\u2019s own University of Pennsylvania that the graph was \u201cmanipulated\u201d. First published in 1999, Mann spent years denying requests from other academics for information about his methods. The Climategate leak with emails referring to \u201cMike\u2019s Nature Trick\u201d and \u201cHide the decline\u201d blew all that apart. At the end of the recent trial, his lawyer told the jury that Michael Mann was tired of being attacked. \u201cYou have the opportunity to serve as an example to prevent others from acting in a similar way,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The distinguished science writer Roger Pielke Jr. attended the trial and he has concluded the mistake Steyn and Simberg made was thinking that it would be sufficient to win by proving their case<\/a>. Steyn\u2019s frequent contention has been that the graph was fraudulent. \u201cThe case, at least in this particular venue, was simply unwinnable no matter what cases were put by the prosecution and the defence. Mann simply had to show up,\u201d observed Pielke.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a statement, Mann said: \u201cI hope this verdict sends a message that falsely attacking climate scientists is not protected speech.\u201d Pielke comments that he would not be surprised to now see a flurry of lawsuits against people who have been critical of climate science and climate scientists. \u201cSuch legal action may not be limited to climate \u2013 debate over COVID-19, also presents a target rich environment for unwanted speech to silence.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n

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Dr. Judith Curry blames Mann for destroying her academic career<\/a> at Georgia Tech when he called her a \u201cserial climate disinformer\u201d. Her crime was to challenge the idea of a consensus around the science of climate and the involvement of humans in causing most if not all temperature change. After the verdict was announced, she tweeted<\/a> that there was no justice from a Democrat, \u201cclimate-concerned\u201d jury. \u201cAnd a huge blow for freedom of speech,\u201d she added. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

She is right of course. The seven figure punitive damage was sought not to compensate Mann for any loss of reputation, but to deter anyone else arguing that the \u2018settled\u2019 climate activists backing the collectivist Net Zero project are wrong. For Steyn and Simberg to have lost an American defamation case, actual malice, defined as not believing what they wrote about Mann, needed to be proved. The reason many neutral observers of the case believe the result is perverse is that Steyn has spent over two decades criticising the methodology of the hockey stick, and no evidence has been presented that he doesn\u2019t believe every single word he has written.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In commentary posted on Steyn\u2019s website<\/a>, it was noted that he was a member of the media and \u201csupposedly afforded\u201d First Amendment protections. \u201cIf a member of the media is no longer protected, what do you think that means for everyday citizens? And it doesn\u2019t matter if you are in D.C. or Montana \u2013 anyone can file in the jurisdiction of his or her choosing.\u201d It was noted that in 2019 the Supreme Court decided not to allow the case to be tried in the higher District of Columbia Court of Appeals, but there was a dissenting verdict<\/a> from Judge Samuel Alito. He felt the case went to the \u201cvery heart\u201d of the U.S. constitutional guarantee of freedom of speech and the press. While not making any specific judgements on the case, he identified that the matter at issue was the \u201cprotection afforded to journalists and others who use harsh language in criticising opposing advocacy on one of the most important public issues of the day\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The learned judge was also aware of the pitfalls of installing a jury to decide on the matter, noting, \u201cthe controversial nature of the whole subject of climate change exacerbates the risk that the jurors\u2019 determination will be coloured by their preconceptions on the matter\u201d. Climate change, he continued, has staked a place at the very centre of the nation\u2019s public discourse. \u201cThe core purpose of the constitutional protection of freedom of expression is to ensure that all opinions on such issues have a chance to be heard and considered,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Not if the fake Nobel laureate Michael E Mann has anything to do with it, it might be said. A consistent abuser over the years of climate \u2018deniers\u2019, he was recently part of a gang of activists and journalists who persuaded Nature Springer<\/em> to retract a paper by four Italian scientists who had investigated past weather data and concluded there was not a climate \u2018emergency\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Whether Mann gets his $1 million remains to be seen, but his trip to the libel courts, which has been spun out over a decade, will not cost him a cent. Wealthy benefactors are available to fund all his costs. Not so Mark Steyn.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Just over a year ago Steyn was in fine form on GB News serving up a scintillating prime time show on the fledgling channel \u2013 with a subversive subtext telling the state regulator of cable news to get stuffed. It was compulsive viewing, although it was never going to last in the highly-regulated Ofcom world of U.K. television. The same man, who in your correspondent\u2019s view is incapable of writing or telling an uninteresting line, is pictured above outside the Washington D.C. court building. It might come as a shock to readers who remember him on U.K. screens as a dapper, bustling presence. Life has not been kind to Mark of late with rising legal bills and three heart attacks. White-haired, gaunt and confined to a wheelchair from which he conducted his own three-week defence in the trial. He clutches a Liberty hockey stick, a fund raising device. The stick has now sold out, but readers can provide support here<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bravo Mark Steyn, a true radical, free thinker and brave defender of free speech.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Chris Morrison is the<\/em> Daily Sceptic\u2019s<\/em> Environment Editor.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Mark Steyn loses in Washington D.C. in the defamation trial surrounding Michael E. Mann\u2019s unbelievable temperature \u2018hockey stick\u2019, while President Biden cannot be criminally charged for taking home state secret papers on the grounds that he is gaga. Only in Democrat America. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":121246920,"featured_media":301379,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"Mark Steyn loses in Washington D.C. in the defamation trial surrounding Michael E. Mann\u2019s unbelievable temperature \u2018hockey stick\u2019, while President Biden cannot be criminally charged for taking home state secret papers on the grounds that he is gaga. 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Today, the Superior Court of the District of Columbia delivered a resounding blow to overreach in the long-running defamation lawsuit brought by climate scientist Michael Mann against conservative commentator Mark Steyn.","rel":"","context":"In \"Censorship\"","block_context":{"text":"Censorship","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=censorship"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/0mannvsteyn.jpg?fit=1200%2C630&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/0mannvsteyn.jpg?fit=1200%2C630&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/0mannvsteyn.jpg?fit=1200%2C630&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/0mannvsteyn.jpg?fit=1200%2C630&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/0mannvsteyn.jpg?fit=1200%2C630&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":298536,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=298536","url_meta":{"origin":301372,"position":1},"title":"Mann vs. Steyn: Climate Trial of the Century Continues – Guest: Phelim McAleer","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"01\/27\/2024","format":false,"excerpt":"In the second week of the defamation trial, where serial litigator and special climate snowflake Michael Mann sued Mark Steyn and others for libel, the proceedings featured notable developments and surprising revelations. To discuss, Phelim McAleer, a filmmaker and journalist who is attending the trial in a federal court in\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"Climate change\"","block_context":{"text":"Climate change","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=climate-change"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/0Screenshot-2024-01-27-155617.png?fit=1200%2C632&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/0Screenshot-2024-01-27-155617.png?fit=1200%2C632&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/0Screenshot-2024-01-27-155617.png?fit=1200%2C632&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/0Screenshot-2024-01-27-155617.png?fit=1200%2C632&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/0Screenshot-2024-01-27-155617.png?fit=1200%2C632&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":297472,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=297472","url_meta":{"origin":301372,"position":2},"title":"Climate Trial of the Century: Mann vs Steyn \u2013 Climate Change Roundtable #94","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"01\/19\/2024","format":false,"excerpt":"After 12 years of delays, the defamation lawsuit brought by climate scientist Michael Mann and writer Mark Steyn finally began this week. Mann sued Steyn and others in 2012 claiming they libeled him when they mocked his infamous \u201chockey stick\u201d graph that has been the lynchpin of climate alarmism for\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"12 years of delays\"","block_context":{"text":"12 years of delays","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=12-years-of-delays"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/0Screenshot-2024-01-19-184739.png?fit=1200%2C660&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/0Screenshot-2024-01-19-184739.png?fit=1200%2C660&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/0Screenshot-2024-01-19-184739.png?fit=1200%2C660&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/0Screenshot-2024-01-19-184739.png?fit=1200%2C660&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/0Screenshot-2024-01-19-184739.png?fit=1200%2C660&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":300858,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=300858","url_meta":{"origin":301372,"position":3},"title":"Nothing Can Save \u2018Climate Science\u2019, Not Now","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"02\/09\/2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Mark Steyn to pay punitive\u00a0damages of US $1,000,000.\u00a0 The wicked have won.","rel":"","context":"In \"climate science\"","block_context":{"text":"climate science","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=climate-science"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/0RV-AO407_CLIMAT_GR_20140919114252.jpg?fit=1200%2C783&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/0RV-AO407_CLIMAT_GR_20140919114252.jpg?fit=1200%2C783&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/0RV-AO407_CLIMAT_GR_20140919114252.jpg?fit=1200%2C783&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/0RV-AO407_CLIMAT_GR_20140919114252.jpg?fit=1200%2C783&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/0RV-AO407_CLIMAT_GR_20140919114252.jpg?fit=1200%2C783&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":299240,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=299240","url_meta":{"origin":301372,"position":4},"title":"Steyn v Mann: The Infamous Climate \u2018Hockey Stick\u2019 Goes on Trial","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"02\/01\/2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Fifteen years on from the\u00a0notorious Climategate scandal, and the widely debunked temperature \u2018hockey stick\u2019 is centre stage in a libel trial in a Washington D.C. court. In the widely-billed climate trial of the century, the\u00a0fake Nobel laureate\u00a0Michael Mann is suing the journalist Mark Steyn for claiming that his infamous hockey\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"cancel culture\"","block_context":{"text":"cancel culture","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=cancel-culture"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/02024-01-31-00_10_22-Mann-vs-Steyn.png-800%C3%97600.jpeg?fit=1200%2C656&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/02024-01-31-00_10_22-Mann-vs-Steyn.png-800%C3%97600.jpeg?fit=1200%2C656&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/02024-01-31-00_10_22-Mann-vs-Steyn.png-800%C3%97600.jpeg?fit=1200%2C656&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/02024-01-31-00_10_22-Mann-vs-Steyn.png-800%C3%97600.jpeg?fit=1200%2C656&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/02024-01-31-00_10_22-Mann-vs-Steyn.png-800%C3%97600.jpeg?fit=1200%2C656&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":308516,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=308516","url_meta":{"origin":301372,"position":5},"title":"A Jury Found Climate Skeptic Liable For Defamation \u2014 Legal Experts Say He Has A Chance To Win On Appeal","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"03\/15\/2024","format":false,"excerpt":"A right-of-center pundit is appealing a February ruling that found him liable for defaming a prominent climate scientist, and legal experts told the Daily Caller News Foundation that he may have a good chance at a successful appeal.","rel":"","context":"In \"Climate change\"","block_context":{"text":"Climate change","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=climate-change"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/0190809150019-amanpour-michael-mann-ipcc-climate-crisis-00000000-super-tease.jpg?fit=1100%2C619&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/0190809150019-amanpour-michael-mann-ipcc-climate-crisis-00000000-super-tease.jpg?fit=1100%2C619&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/0190809150019-amanpour-michael-mann-ipcc-climate-crisis-00000000-super-tease.jpg?fit=1100%2C619&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/0190809150019-amanpour-michael-mann-ipcc-climate-crisis-00000000-super-tease.jpg?fit=1100%2C619&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/0190809150019-amanpour-michael-mann-ipcc-climate-crisis-00000000-super-tease.jpg?fit=1100%2C619&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/301372","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/121246920"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=301372"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/301372\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":301381,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/301372\/revisions\/301381"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/301379"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=301372"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=301372"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=301372"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}