(Ed.'s Note: True to form, just as the board members of the San Benito Consolidated Independent School District have limited public comment only to items on their agenda, its lawyers have now put the San Benito News on notice that they will be sued for libel if the board and administration think they have published information they believe is unfair to them and to the district and its administrators and staff. Will the News news cower and whimper and slink off like a whipped Greyhound? And were the lawyers acting on behalf of the entire board when they fired off the missive? Transparency has never been this board's forte. Did Superintendent Nate Carman and the board instruct the lawyers to write the demand letter and threaten it with the lawsuit? Was there a vote to do this?)
By Juan Montoya
Attorneys for the San Benito Independent School District have demanded that the San Benito News and its corporate parent New Horizon Publishers"cease and desist" allegedly libeling the district and its Superintendent Dr. Nate Carman or face a libel suit.
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The law office of attorney Thomas G. Rayfield sent the News' Noel J. Espinoza, and New Horizon officers the letter May 5 and demanded that the newspaper stop publishing what it called defamatory stories about the district and its superintendent.
Rayfield cites a newspaper article that ran in the April 24-30 edition where in reporting a lawsuit filed against the district by former SBICSD employee Celia Longoria, it stated she had been forced to resign or face termination and that 10 others that "faced a similar fate."
Rayfield charges that the statement is false and objectively verifiable and that because of the newspaper's "malicious intent the reporters did not seek to investigate the story before publication."
The letter goes on to point out that of the 10, three still work for the SBICD and therefore were not forced to resign or face termination, two retired at standard retirement age, one left for career advancement and three were fired for cause.
"The statement is defamatory. The published statement was liable (sic libelous?). It contains a false statement of fact. It impeaches my client's integrity, virtue and reputation."
Rayfield then goes on to list the catchwords associated with a classic libel lawsuit such as alleging that the News and New Horizon have a vendetta against the district and that their "pattern of conduct" over time that demonstrates their malice toward the SBCISD and Carman and says it is not the first time that they have "repeatedly published false and defamatory" statements against the district and its administration.
"If you do not cease publishing defamatory statements regarding my client, I will have no choice but to recommend to my client (clients?) that they file suit against J. Noel Espinoza, the San Benito News, New Horizon Publishers Inc., in Cameron County District Court. In said suit, I will seek actual damages my clients have sustained in addition to punitive damages for your malicious acts."
By Juan Montoya
Attorneys for the San Benito Independent School District have demanded that the San Benito News and its corporate parent New Horizon Publishers"cease and desist" allegedly libeling the district and its Superintendent Dr. Nate Carman or face a libel suit.
The law office of attorney Thomas G. Rayfield sent the News' Noel J. Espinoza, and New Horizon officers the letter May 5 and demanded that the newspaper stop publishing what it called defamatory stories about the district and its superintendent.Rayfield cites a newspaper article that ran in the April 24-30 edition where in reporting a lawsuit filed against the district by former SBICSD employee Celia Longoria, it stated she had been forced to resign or face termination and that 10 others that "faced a similar fate."
Rayfield charges that the statement is false and objectively verifiable and that because of the newspaper's "malicious intent the reporters did not seek to investigate the story before publication."
The letter goes on to point out that of the 10, three still work for the SBICD and therefore were not forced to resign or face termination, two retired at standard retirement age, one left for career advancement and three were fired for cause.
"The statement is defamatory. The published statement was liable (sic libelous?). It contains a false statement of fact. It impeaches my client's integrity, virtue and reputation."
Rayfield then goes on to list the catchwords associated with a classic libel lawsuit such as alleging that the News and New Horizon have a vendetta against the district and that their "pattern of conduct" over time that demonstrates their malice toward the SBCISD and Carman and says it is not the first time that they have "repeatedly published false and defamatory" statements against the district and its administration.
"If you do not cease publishing defamatory statements regarding my client, I will have no choice but to recommend to my client (clients?) that they file suit against J. Noel Espinoza, the San Benito News, New Horizon Publishers Inc., in Cameron County District Court. In said suit, I will seek actual damages my clients have sustained in addition to punitive damages for your malicious acts."