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Home > Hamad v. Horowitz

Hamad v. Horowitz [1]

Submitted by DMLP Staff on Wed, 10/01/2008 - 18:44

Summary

Threat Type: 

Lawsuit

Date: 

04/13/2006

Status: 

Concluded

Disposition: 

Dismissed (total)

Location: 

Texas

Verdict or Settlement Amount: 

N/A

Legal Claims: 

Defamation
Fraud
Intentional Infliction of Emotional Distress
Negligence
Tortious Interference
Trademark Dilution
Trade Libel
Riad Hamad, founder of the Palestine Children's Welfare Fund (PCWF), filed a defamation suit against the editor and publisher of online publication FrontPage Magazine and several other defendants.  Hamad alleged that a FrontPage article accused Hamad and PCWF of funneling money to... read full description
Parties

Party Receiving Legal Threat: 

Center for the Study of Popular Culture; David Horowitz; Center for Jewish Community Studies; State of Texas; Americans Against Hate; Middle East Forum (Campus Watch); CB Accounts Inc.; Joe Kaufman; MilitantIslammonitor.org; Daniel Pipes; Freerepubli

Type of Party: 

Individual

Type of Party: 

Individual
Organization
Government

Location of Party: 

  • Texas

Location of Party: 

  • California
  • Texas
  • Florida
  • Illinois
  • Pennsylvania
  • Maryland

Legal Counsel: 

Pro se

Legal Counsel: 

Manuel S. Klausner; David H. Donaldson; Peter D. Kennedy (CSPC and Horowitz); Randy Howry, Sean E. Breen - Herman, Howry & Breen, LLP (Center for Jewish Community Studies); Aaron B. Huffman (State of Texas); Ashley Ivy Kissinger, Michael Berry - Levi
Description

Riad Hamad, founder of the Palestine Children's Welfare Fund (PCWF), filed a defamation suit against the editor and publisher of online publication FrontPage Magazine and several other defendants.  Hamad alleged that a FrontPage article accused Hamad and PCWF of funneling money to terrorists, called Hamad an anti-Semite, and otherwise disparaged him and his organization.

Hamad's original complaint brought approximately 15 legal claims against FrontPage editor David Horowitz and publisher Center for the Study of Popular Culture (CSPC) and asked for $80 million in damages.  Hamad subsequently amended his complaint five times, progressively adding more defendants and legal claims related to the FrontPage article and postings from other sites. These claims included business disparagement, tortious interference, intentional infliction of emotional distress, fraud, negligence, and trademark dilution, among others.

The district court dismissed all of Hamad's claims in three 2006 and 2007 orders. Each claim was dismissed in part because the one-year statute of limitations for defamation actions had run -- Hamad had filed suit in 2006, while the articles were published in 2003 and 2004.  In finding that the statute of limitations had passed, the court applied the single publication rule: it determined that the statue of limitations began running when each article was first published online.

In the three orders, the court also dismissed most of Hamad's claims on alternative grounds, such as lack of personal jurisdiction, failure to state a claim upon which relief could be granted, and immunity under CDA 230 (with respect to Dotster, Inc., a domain registrar).

In the second [2] of the three orders, the court sanctioned Hamad for repeatedly amending his complaint without permission and for failing to heed a court warning that he would face sanctions if he did not voluntarily dismiss his complaint.  The court ordered him to pay $3,000 in sanctions.

Rather than voluntarily dismissing his suit following the sanctions, Hamad filed for default judgment as to some of the parties.  As a result, the third and final court order [3] dismissed Hamad's remaining claims and ordered him to pay $9,000 in sanctions and more than $50,000 in defendants' fees and costs.  Hamad appealed.

The Fifth Circuit affirmed the district court's judgment, relying primarily on the statute of limitations.  The court also granted defendants' request for fees arising from Hamad's "frivolous" appeal, amounting to more than $30,000.

All told, Hamad was ordered to pay more than $92,000 in sanctions, fees, and costs.

Related Links: 

  • FrontPage Magazine: Recruiting for Jihad [4]  (appears to be a disputed article)
  • NGO Monitor: Palestine Children's Welfare Fund [5]  (appears to be a disputed article)
  • NGO Monitor: Court Dismisses Frivolous Case Against NGO Monitor  [6]
Details

Web Site(s) Involved: 

Militant Islam Monitor [7]

FrontPage Magazine [8]

DiscoverTheNetworks [9]

Content Type: 

  • Text

Publication Medium: 

Website

Subject Area: 

  • Defamation
  • Section 230
  • Statute of Limitations
  • Sanctions
Court Information & Documents

Jurisdiction: 

  • Texas

Source of Law: 

  • United States
  • Texas

Court Name: 

United States District Court for the Western District of Texas; United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit

Court Type: 

Federal

Case Number: 

1:06-cv-0028 (trial court); No. 07-50165 (appeals court)

Relevant Documents: 

PDF icon 2006-06-26-Motion to Dismiss by State of Texas.pdf [10]
PDF icon 2006-04-13-Hamad Complaint.pdf [11]
PDF icon 2006-05-18-Answer by Center for Study of Popular Culture.pdf [12]
PDF icon 2006-05-18-Motion to Dismiss by Center for Study of Popular Culture.pdf [13]
PDF icon 2006-05-30-Hamad First Amended Complaint.pdf [14]
PDF icon 2006-05-30-Hamad Response to Motion to Dismiss.pdf [15]
PDF icon 2006-06-02-Hamad Second Amended Complaint.pdf [16]
PDF icon 2006-06-19-Defendant's Supplemtal Brief in Support of Motion to Dismiss.pdf [17]
PDF icon 2006-06-26-Hamad Order Granting Motion to Dismiss.pdf [18]
PDF icon 2006-09-07-Hamad Order.pdf [19]
PDF icon 2007-01-17-Hamad Order.pdf [20]
PDF icon 2008-02-19-Hamad Appellate Opinion.pdf [21]
CMLP Information (Private)

Priority: 

1-High

DMLP Logo


Source URL (modified on 08/20/2014 - 11:07pm): https://www.dmlp.org/threats/hamad-v-horowitz

Links
[1] https://www.dmlp.org/threats/hamad-v-horowitz
[2] https://www.dmlp.org/sites/citmedialaw.org/files/2006-09-07-Hamad%20Order.pdf
[3] https://www.dmlp.org/sites/citmedialaw.org/files/2007-01-17-Hamad%20Order.pdf
[4] http://www.frontpagemag.com/Articles/Read.aspx?GUID=8B531B8F-6B5B-42E8-95CD-9B38A7E0C151
[5] http://www.ngo-monitor.org/article/palestine_children_s_welfare_fund_pcwf_0
[6] http://www.ngo-monitor.org/article/_court_dismisses_frivolous_case_against_ngo_monitor_
[7] http://www.militantislammonitor.org
[8] http://www.frontpagemag.com/
[9] http://www.discoverthenetworks.org
[10] https://www.dmlp.org/sites/dmlp.org/files/sites/citmedialaw.org/files/2006-06-26-Motion%20to%20Dismiss%20by%20State%20of%20Texas.pdf
[11] https://www.dmlp.org/sites/dmlp.org/files/sites/citmedialaw.org/files/2006-04-13-Hamad%20Complaint.pdf
[12] https://www.dmlp.org/sites/dmlp.org/files/sites/citmedialaw.org/files/2006-05-18-Answer%20by%20Center%20for%20Study%20of%20Popular%20Culture.pdf
[13] https://www.dmlp.org/sites/dmlp.org/files/sites/citmedialaw.org/files/2006-05-18-Motion%20to%20Dismiss%20by%20Center%20for%20Study%20of%20Popular%20Culture.pdf
[14] https://www.dmlp.org/sites/dmlp.org/files/sites/citmedialaw.org/files/2006-05-30-Hamad%20First%20Amended%20Complaint.pdf
[15] https://www.dmlp.org/sites/dmlp.org/files/sites/citmedialaw.org/files/2006-05-30-Hamad%20Response%20to%20Motion%20to%20Dismiss.pdf
[16] https://www.dmlp.org/sites/dmlp.org/files/sites/citmedialaw.org/files/2006-06-02-Hamad%20Second%20Amended%20Complaint.pdf
[17] https://www.dmlp.org/sites/dmlp.org/files/sites/citmedialaw.org/files/2006-06-19-Defendant%27s%20Supplemtal%20Brief%20in%20Support%20of%20Motion%20to%20Dismiss.pdf
[18] https://www.dmlp.org/sites/dmlp.org/files/sites/citmedialaw.org/files/2006-06-26-Hamad%20Order%20Granting%20Motion%20to%20Dismiss.pdf
[19] https://www.dmlp.org/sites/dmlp.org/files/sites/citmedialaw.org/files/2006-09-07-Hamad%20Order.pdf
[20] https://www.dmlp.org/sites/dmlp.org/files/sites/citmedialaw.org/files/2007-01-17-Hamad%20Order.pdf
[21] https://www.dmlp.org/sites/dmlp.org/files/sites/citmedialaw.org/files/2008-02-19-Hamad%20Appellate%20Opinion.pdf