(Photo
by
Patrick
McDermott/Getty
Images)
Yesterday
a
federal
judge
in
Mississippi
gave
Brett
Favre
a
lesson
in
First
Amendment
law
when
he
dropkicked
a
defamation
suit
the
Hall
of
Fame
quarterback
filed
against
sports
talkshow
host
Shannon
Sharpe,
also
a
Hall
of
Famer.
He
also
schooled
the
retired
athlete
on
the
phenomenon
known
as
the
“Streisand
Effect”
with
a
ruling
that
thrust
Favre’s
role
in
the
diversion
of
welfare
funds
back
into
the
news
cycle.
For
the
past
three
years,
Mississippi
has
been
roiled
by
a
massive
corruption
scandal
that
saw
$77
million
in
federal
welfare
funds
siphoned
off
to
projects
associated
with
allies
of
then-Mississippi
Gov.
Phil
Bryant.
Favre,
who
returned
$1.1
million
in
“speaking
fees,”
is
alleged
to
have
helped
steer
$5
million
to
upgrade
the
volleyball
facility
at
his
daughter’s
college.
He
also
helped
arrange
for
$2
million
of
that
sweet,
sweet
TANF
cash
to
go
to
a
biotech
startup
he’d
invested
in
—
which
doesn’t
exactly
scream
“Temporary
Aid
to
Needy
Families.”
A
normal
person
would
take
his
lumps,
apologize,
and
go
put
himself
in
time
out
for
a
minute.
But
Brett
“Green
Crocs”
Favre
is
used
to
showing
whole
ass
to
the
world.
So
naturally
he’s
screaming
bloody
murder
that
his
good
name
is
being
besmirched
by
association
with
this
scandal.
Toward
that
end,
he
hired
former
Trump
White
House
lawyer
Eric
Herschmann
to
sue
sports
talkshow
hosts
Shannon
Sharpe
and
Pat
McAfee,
themselves
both
NFL
veterans,
for
defaming
him
in
comments
on
their
respective
programs.
In
his
complaint,
filed
in
the
Circuit
Court
of
Lamar
County
Mississippi
in
February,
Favre
wrote:
Defendant
Sharpe,
on
his
popular
national
sports
television
program,
which
has
an
audience
of
hundreds
of
thousands
of
viewers
daily,
has
made
egregiously
false
and
defamatory
statements
that
Favre,
the
Hall
of
Fame
quarterback
and
native
son
of
Mississippi,
was
a
“sorry
mofo
to
steal
from
the
lowest
of
the
low”
that
Favre
was
“taking
from
the
underserved
[in
Mississippi],”
and
that
“[Favre]
stole
money
from
people
that
really
needed
that
money.”
There
is
no
basis
anywhere
for
these
outrageous
falsehoods,
which
Sharpe
made
knowing
that
they
were
false
or,
at
a
minimum,
with
reckless
disregard
for
the
fact
that
they
were
false.
Both
cases
were
immediately
removed
to
federal
court,
and
Favre
dismissed
his
suit
against
McAfee
in
May
after
McAfee
apologized
on
air.
But
Sharpe
did
not
back
down,
defending
his
statements
as
protected
hyperbole.
And
that
argument
carried
the
day
with
Judge
Keith
Starrett,
a
GWB
appointee
in
the
Southern
District
of
Missouri,
who
dismissed
the
case
yesterday.
After
recounting
the
allegations
against
Favre
based
on
public
reporting,
the
court
rejected
the
claim
that
listeners
came
away
from
“Skip
and
Shannon:
Undisputed”
convinced
that
Favre
personally
tackled
impoverished
Mississippi
residents
and
stole
their
food
stamps.
The
reference
to
“taking”
and
“stole”
figuratively
refers
to
the
diverting
funds
from
the
TANF
for
purposes
other
than
helping
the
underprivileged.
Similarly,
Sharpe’s
use
of
the
words
“people
that
really
needed
that
money,”
the
“lowest
of
the
low,”
and
“the
underserved,”
again
are
examples
of
protected,
colorful
speech
referring
to
needy
families
in
Mississippi.Here,
no
reasonable
person
listening
to
the
Broadcast
would
think
that
Favre
actually
went
into
the
homes
of
poor
people
and
took
their
money—that
he
committed
the
crime
of
theft/larceny
against
any
particular
poor
person
in
Mississippi.
Sharpe’s
comments
were
made
against
the
backdrop
of
longstanding
media
coverage
of
Favre’s
role
in
the
welfare
scandal
and
the
State’s
lawsuit
against
Favre.
Applying
Mississippi
precedent,
Judge
Starrett
found
that
a
normal
person
would
understand
that
the
entire
point
of
sports
talkshows
is
shittalking,
AKA
“rhetorical
hyperbole
—
robust
language
used
to
express
Sharpe’s
strong
views
about
the
new
information
that
emerged
about
Favre’s
participation
in
the
welfare
scandal.”
“Undisputed
is
not
a
news
outlet
where
viewers
expect
genuine
initial
reporting
of
events,”
he
continued.
“It
is
a
debate
format
sports
entertainment
talk
show
with
lively,
pointed
banter,
and
Sharpe’s
comments
are
properly
seen
in
that
context
as
constitutionally-protected
speech.”
But
Favre
will
get
one
more
shot
at
that
trophy,
as
he’s
sued
Shad
White,
the
state
auditor
who
uncovered
the
scandal.
That
case
is
proceeding
in
state
court,
so
perhaps
Favre
will
get
some
more
money
out
of
the
Mississippi’s
coffers
by
suing
a
civil
servant.
Not
as
fun
as
stealing
welfare
money
from
poor
people,
but
you
take
your
fun
where
you
can
get
it.
Judge
dismisses
Brett
Favre
defamation
suit,
saying
Shannon
Sharpe
used
hyperbole
over
welfare
money
[AP]
Favre
v.
Sharpe
[Docket
via
Court
Listener]
Liz
Dye lives
in
Baltimore
where
she
writes
about
law
and
politics
and
appears
on
the Opening
Arguments podcast.