Corrupt Cops and Prosecutors Lose Lawsuit Against John Grisham
February 01, 2010
A bunch of corrupt and/or incompetent police and prosecutors had an innocent man sent to prison to rot for over a decade. John Grisham wrote a book about the police and prosecutors. What do you suppose happened?
Did Scalia's new police professionals reflect on how they sent an innocent man to prison? Did they seek to improve police procedures in light of their glaring error? Hah!
Instead, they sued for intentional infliction of emotional distress. You see, Grisham's book hurt their feelings. To a bunch of narcissists, their hurt feelings matter more than the harm they cause others. It's so bizarre to the few of us who are healthy. To a narcissist, other people are props in their plays. What happens to other people is only interesting insofar as it relates to the main event - who is always the narcissist.
Some dude went to prison for a decade, and instead of agonizing over their corruption and incompetence, they niggled over a narcissistic injury. That's exactly how we'd expect them to behave. It's good to see the bad guys lose again:
In 1988, Ronald Williamson and Dennis Fritz were wrongly convicted of the rape and murder of Debra Sue Carter. Both men were later exonerated after spending over a decade in jail. Their painful story caught the attention of renowned legal-fiction author John Grisham, who wrote a book about Williamson appropriately titled The Innocent Man. Fritz also wrote a book, Journey Toward Justice, detailing the horror of his years of unjust confinement.
Each of the plaintiffs in this case—Oklahoma District Attorney William Peterson; former Shawnee police officer Gary Rogers; and former Oklahoma state criminologist Melvin Hett—played a role in the investigation or prosecution and conviction of Williamson and Fritz. Neither The Innocent Man nor Journey Toward Justice paints the plaintiffs in a positive light.
Following the release of these books, plaintiffs filed suit in Oklahoma district court seeking relief for defamation, false light invasion of privacy, intentional infliction of emotional distress, and civil conspiracy. They named Grisham, Fritz, anti-death penalty advocate Barry Scheck, and author Robert Mayer—along with their respective publishers—as defendants. The district court dismissed the suit for failure to state a claim upon which relief can be granted. Exercising jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1291, we affirm.