First hour: Understanding defamation and its impact
Second hour: Discussing evictions during a pandemic Two companies are preparing to file what could become one of the most influential defamation lawsuits ever seen in this country. The companies are Dominion and Smartmatic, which have endured weeks of allegations that they helped Democrats rig the election for Joe Biden. There is no evidence that the companies worked to steal votes from Donald Trump, but that has not stopped Fox News, Newsmax, and OAN from continually airing claims that the companies are corrupt. Now the companies want damages, and it could change the way media companies think about airing political propaganda. Our guest helps us understand defamation and its impact:
- Chris Thomas, counsel with Nixon Peabody
Then in our second hour, Assemblyman Demond Meeks was arrested during a protest against evictions in Rochester. The assemblyman says that in the middle of a pandemic, it is inhumane to evict people from their households. He was one of more than a dozen people arrested during a protest against the eviction of a tenant in Rochester's Corn Hill neighborhood. Governor Andrew Cuomo has said that there is a moratorium on evictions, but that is not entirely accurate. Landlords have said that they're also struggling to pay their mortgages, and don't know what to do without assistance. So what do advocates see as the fairest path forward? Our guests:
- Demond Meeks, member of the New York State Assembly
- Graham Hughes, co-chair of the Rochester Housing Justice Alliance
- Lisle Coleman, volunteer with the City-Wide Tenant Union of Rochester
- Clianda Florence-Yarde, former tenant, educator, mother, and community member
- Gino Fanelli, reporter with CITY Magazine
