The Southern Poverty Law Center is a despicable organization. It has spent its lifetime attacking and lying about organizations that don’t agree with its leftist policies. But it’s finally being challenged for defamation by the Dustin Inman Society, an organization involved in immigrant issues. Unfortunately, SPLC claims they are a hate group and anti-immigration. The Society is pursuing a defamation lawsuit against the SPLC:

A federal judge says one of Georgia's most vocal advocates for strict immigration policies can move forward with its defamation lawsuit against the Southern Poverty Law Center over being labeled an ‘anti-immigrant hate group.’

Why it matters: The decision allows the Dustin Inman Society to demand emails, notes and other documents that could show how the group decides the designation.

Doing so could be key to proving ‘actual malice,’ which is the high bar that public figures must clear to win a defamation case.

What's happening: Judge William Keith Watkins of Alabama’s Middle District Federal Court earlier this month denied the SPLC's motion to dismiss the DIS' complaint.

Details: D.A. King, the DIS founder and president who also earned criticism from the Anti-Defamation League, claimed that the SPLC's ‘hate group’ label put the society at risk of violence and damaged its reputation.

In a 55-page memorandum released this week, Watkins disagreed with SPLC’s argument that the label was opinion, and thus protected speech.

The judge said the timing of the ‘hate group’ designation -- coming years after initially saying the label did not apply -- was enough to warrant additional ‘probing via discovery.’

The SPLC focuses on discrediting organizations like Focus on the Family, Moms for Liberty, and Parents Defending Education, including them on the “Hate Map” on the SPLC website. Calling these organizations extremist groups alienates them from the public and damages their reputations. In addition to this lawsuit, which could be extremely effective in hampering the work of SPLC, a writer who has researched the work of SPLC notes the following regarding a request to Tim Kane to allow him to explain the damaging work of the organization:

But one of the things that shocked me was when Tim Kane, who's up for reelection in 2024, got my request, he decided to respond and he didn't condemn the FBI for citing the SPLC. He said, ‘There's this report that says extremists are trying to infiltrate Catholic churches. I find that very disturbing.’

So he essentially endorsed the SPLC's claims, the FBI's claims, here. I think it's very important that we try to get members of Congress on record about this organization, and that Americans know this and think about when they're deciding whom to vote for, weigh that into their considerations. Because this organization is a left-wing smear factory. One of its major goals is to go after and silence its political opponents. Many of those people are really good people who are just trying to stand up for their rights in a politically-charged environment. And I think it's incumbent upon us to recognize when an elected official is using a group like this to silence the American people, that is a huge red flag, and we should be paying attention.

It's time to take down the Southern Poverty Law Center.

Image: Southern Poverty Law Center