Eventually this will happen to all of you AUK circle jerks. I will be
laughing all the way as you go either to the poor house or are locked
up in loony bins for life.

Jury awards $11.3M over defamatory Internet posts
Posted 10/10/2006 10:07 PM ET
By Laura Parker, USA TODAY

A Florida woman has been awarded $11.3 million in a defamation lawsuit
against a Louisiana woman who posted messages on the Internet accusing
her of being a "crook," a "con artist" and a "fraud."

Legal analysts say the Sept. 19 award by a jury in Broward County, Fla.
- first reported Friday by the Daily Business Review - represents
the largest such judgment over postings on an Internet blog or message
board. Lyrissa Lidsky, a University of Florida law professor who
specializes in free-speech issues, calls the award "astonishing."

Lidsky says the case could represent a coming trend in court fights
over online messages because the woman who won the damage award, Sue
Scheff of Weston, Fla., pursued the case even though she knew the
defendant, Carey Bock of Mandeville, La., has no hope of paying such an
award. Bock, who had to leave her home for several months because of
Hurricane Katrina, couldn't afford an attorney and didn't show up for
the trial.

"What's interesting about this case is that (Scheff) was so vested in
being vindicated, she was willing to pay court costs," Lidsky says.
"They knew before trial that the defendant couldn't pay, so what's the
point in going to the jury?"

Scheff says she wanted to make a point to those who unfairly criticize
others on the Internet. "I'm sure (Bock) doesn't have $1 million, let
alone $11 million, but the message is strong and clear," Scheff says.
"People are using the Internet to destroy people they don't like, and
you can't do that."

The dispute between the two women arose after Bock asked Scheff for
help in withdrawing Bock's twin sons from a boarding school in Costa
Rica. Bock had disagreed with her ex-husband over how to deal with the
boys' behavior problems. Against Bock's wishes, he had sent the boys to
the boarding school.

Scheff, who operates a referral service called Parents Universal
Resource Experts, says she referred Bock to a consultant who helped
Bock retrieve her sons. Afterward, Bock became critical of Scheff and
posted negative messages about her on the Internet site Fornits.com,
where parents with children in boarding schools for troubled teens
confer with one another.

In 2003, Scheff sued Bock for defamation. Bock hired a lawyer, but he
left the case when she no longer could afford to pay him.

When Katrina hit in August 2005, Bock's house was flooded and she moved
temporarily to Texas before returning to Louisiana last June. Court
papers that Scheff and her attorney David H. Pollack mailed to Bock
were returned to Pollack's office in Miami.

After Bock didn't offer a defense, a Broward Circuit Court judge found
in favor of Scheff. A jury then heard Scheff's arguments about damages.
Pollack did not seek a specific amount for the harm he says Scheff's
business suffered.

"Even with no opposing counsel and no defendant there, $11 million is a
huge amount," says Pollack, adding that Scheff is considering whether
to try to collect any money from Bock. "The jury determined this was a
significant enough issue. It's not just somebody's feelings are hurt;
it's somebody's reputation is ruined."

Bock says that when she moved back to her repaired house over the
summer, she knew the trial was approaching but did not know the date.
She says she doesn't have the money to pay the judgment or hire a
lawyer to appeal it. She adds that if the goal of Scheff's lawsuit was
to stifle what Bock says online, it worked.

"I don't feel like I can express my opinions," Bock says. "Only one
side of the story was told in court. Nobody heard my side."