Bishop drops lawsuit against blogger: The Church of England Newspaper, April 11, 2014

The Bishop of the Ontario-based Diocese of Niagara, the Rt. Rev. Michael Bird, has dropped his $400,000 defamation of character lawsuit against David Jenkins, after the conservative blogger agreed to partial payment of the bishop’s legal fees and an apology.  A first of its kind lawsuit that was closely watched by free speech activists, in February 2013 the bishop sued Mr. Jenkins claiming his blog had defamed him by describing him as an ineffectual leader, a thief, sexual pervert and atheist.  The bishop’s complaint further alleged that altered photos printed on the Anglican Samizdat of the bishop sporting underwear on his head, and of his face appearing atop the body of the late North Korean dictator Kim Jong Il. The bishop had sought to shut down the website, ban Mr. Jenkins from all further public comment, and pay $400,000 in damages plus costs. The bishop agreed to settle the suit after Mr. Jenkins countered with the offer of payment of partial legal costs and an apology.  Settling the lawsuit was the prudent course of action, the blogger wrote, noting “further financial haggling was infra dig, so I agreed to the terms.”

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