Hersh lawsuit - First amended verified complaint
Relevant Documents at EFF
It is important to note that in their complaint they state that they have been victims of a campaign of slander and repeatedly accused of child abuse.- including complaints filed against them with the Israeli and American authorities. As far as I recall in the accounts in the newspapers the only accusation against them was that they had sent their son to the school in Jamaica (for what they thought was his best interests) and that the son needed to be removed from that facility. That was the public announcement signed by Rav Shmuel Kaminetsky, Dr. Pelcovitz and Dr. Twersky that Jamaica was not an appropriate educational facility.
Thus they declare the purpose of the lawsuit is that they were accused of being child abusers and that Jamaica was just one manifestation of that abuse. While I find their accusations against the defendants as problematic - given the respected reputation that at least some of the defendants have - their claims are readily amenable to being verified or rejected as false. It is unfortunate that they felt that this needed to go to a civil court - but obviously there is precedent for such actions when it is felt that beis din would not have the ability to handle the matter properly.
In your comments - I will not accept conjecture and "psychohistorical" explanations. I have no knowledge other than that the Hersh's made an honest mistake in judgment. Furthermore I am willing to publish measured comments by either side that might bring this unfortunate episode to an end.
Relevant Documents at EFF
It is important to note that in their complaint they state that they have been victims of a campaign of slander and repeatedly accused of child abuse.- including complaints filed against them with the Israeli and American authorities. As far as I recall in the accounts in the newspapers the only accusation against them was that they had sent their son to the school in Jamaica (for what they thought was his best interests) and that the son needed to be removed from that facility. That was the public announcement signed by Rav Shmuel Kaminetsky, Dr. Pelcovitz and Dr. Twersky that Jamaica was not an appropriate educational facility.
Thus they declare the purpose of the lawsuit is that they were accused of being child abusers and that Jamaica was just one manifestation of that abuse. While I find their accusations against the defendants as problematic - given the respected reputation that at least some of the defendants have - their claims are readily amenable to being verified or rejected as false. It is unfortunate that they felt that this needed to go to a civil court - but obviously there is precedent for such actions when it is felt that beis din would not have the ability to handle the matter properly.
In your comments - I will not accept conjecture and "psychohistorical" explanations. I have no knowledge other than that the Hersh's made an honest mistake in judgment. Furthermore I am willing to publish measured comments by either side that might bring this unfortunate episode to an end.
The question of libel, though, does require them establishing how people refer to them. Your focus in this post is on their attempt to establish that what is being claimed is false. I would think the point of the subpoena is to have material by which to show the magnitude, frequency and nature of what was claimed.
ReplyDelete-micha