Does Luke have a Libel case?

After following the events all this time the only case I think that he might have is that the Law Officers in Oregon did not follow proper procedures. Once Things become a matter of public record however, then the Press is open to reporting on them, and while many of us can point out errors it would be very difficult to prove that they were malicious or intentional. Reporting, bad or good, is a very difficult thing to take to court and get some kind of judgment against the reporters.

In no universe does Luke have a libel case. 

Libel is publishing FALSE information with the intent to cause defamation. Nothing I have read has published definitively false information. There may be misleading reports. or articles that omit the full picture. 

but nothing written has been and outright falsehood. 

Secondly, libel is very difficult to win in America. unlike in other countries of the world. 

In America, you the accuser, has to prove the person intentionally printed false information, and they did so for the purpose of harming your reputation. that can be a very difficult legal barrier to cross. The burden of proof is on the plaintiff to present evidence the defendant knowingly and intentionally lied to defame. 

In places like England, the defendant has to prove their innocence of an accusation. A much lower legal bar for an accuser to cross. 

It is bad enough in England, that America had to respond... after a couple of high profile cases of a Russian billionare and a Saudi businessman using London courts to try libel cases against American reporters and writers. in 2010 congress passed the Speech Act. making foreign libel suits nearly entirely unenforceable in America.

Booooooo!

Yes, let's sue the cops!  Genius!  They were trying too hard to make sure that sexual predators were complying with Oregon law.

And, even though Luke was vindicated, he was playing a game.  Even though he was living in Corvallis for the school-year, he was claiming Washington "residence," so he did not have to comply with the reporting requirement. 

An officer is not going to know that Luke is a Washington "resident" without talking to him.

Really, I fault Luke's legal representation.  If the police made a mistake, why didn't Luke's lawyer get the police to scrub his record?  That was what caused all of this to develop the way that it did.  If either of his lawyers had been on-the-ball, he likely is a millionaire, and we are talking about Minnesota.

Not all lawyers are good lawyers...his first lawyers and his second ones could both be questioned for some things. And as other's have mentioned, if Luke really wanted to go on an "I am innocent" campaign... his strategy for it is in question. 

which again, is another point people need to judge in this whole saga. 

I will point out, I think the turn around time between citation and Moran report was pretty dang tight. a matter of just a couple months. The "system" is not agile, nor quick. A lawyer could of sorted this all out, gathered evidence and submitted a court motion to remove the record... only to have it sit on a clerk desk for weeks on end. 

But about suing the cops... well, I hate to say it, if there was incompetence (or even malice) at hand, then yes. sue. 

Cops should never be immune to consequences for poor behavior. ever. They have an incredibly difficult job... but they also have an incredibly important one, and one that our entire justice system disrespects, or at least undervalues. 

We put our life.. our freedom, our liberty in the hands of police every single day. And in thousands of jurisdictions, that man or woman that has the power to slap cuffs on you and put in a jail cell, is a person with a high school diploma and a 4 to 6 week police basic training course.

At any time. at any day of the week, a police officer has the power to pull you over, put handcuffs on you, take you to jail and charge you with a crime. just or not. And maybe at the end of the day you can prove your innocence, but it will always come at the expense of time and money, and possibly your reputation as your mug shot is forever on display on the internet. 

The idea we should forgive transgressions because the greater whole is good, is utter horses%#t. the, "oops, screwed up a case, but we caught a bunch of other sex offenders, so it is cool" excuse does not hold water. How about you just catch the real violators of the law? how about you do the job right, the first time?

with great power comes great responsibility. One false accusation is one too many. Personal liberty... life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, the founding principles of this country, is too great a value to ever compromise. The harm done to a person when they go afoul with the law is significant and severe. we all see that right now with our own eyes. 

So yes. if there was injustice... sue. sue them for every penny. because our system will never correct itself without accountability. 

We've all seen the Sterling Brown videos no doubt... 2 day suspension and then back at it. no harm no foul. That is not a mechanism of accountability. 

Whoa. My bulls%#t detector just got pegged at 11. A game with residency and the reporting requirement? Lay off the oxy man.

You should consider making your points/arguments without such ludicrously false statements. Your credibility is ruined when you roll out this kind of crap as a fact.

1. It's not easy to establish residency because colleges want you pay out of state tuition. I went to OSU with many out of state kids and exactly ZERO of them established Oregon residency. Especially if their stay in Corvallis is just for the school year.

2. To say he didn't establish Oregon residency because he was trying to dodge a reporting requirement is you just making s%#t up. You have no idea.

This is absolutely false. Stop making s%#t up.