In the matter of Schifanelli v. Jourdak, a lawsuit filed by the conservative firebrand running to be Maryland’s next lieutenant governor, you can find elements of several storm fronts in America’s overheated political climate.
It starts with George Floyd and racism, and goes from there — into the skirmishes over public education and across the divide between progressives who speak truth to power and conservatives who ridicule them as the “woke.” The case addresses the use of Facebook and Twitter to stir controversy and attack ideological opponents, and it draws an instructive line between defamation and fair criticism.
The plaintiff is Gordana Schifanelli, an Eastern Shore attorney, who last year became the running mate of Dan Cox, a Frederick County attorney and state delegate, who last week became the Republican nominrr for governor of Maryland. They have been endorsed by former President Donald Trump and hold extremely conservative views.
