Petition of the Month, Winter 2021:
Does 1-10 v. Debra Haaland and Elizabeth Warren
Are Congresspersons Immune from Defamation Suits?

The Supreme Court Press “Petition of the Month”TM for Feb 2021 involves the defamation suit involving comments made by two U.S. Congress women regarding a group of underage children. The case is Does 1-10 v. Debra Haaland and Elizabeth Warren, Supreme Court Dkt. No. 20-1073, an appeal coming out of the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. The petition was filed by attorney Robert Barnes of the Barnes Law Group, located in Los Angeles, California.

Question Presented:

Is election to Congress a license to libel anyone, anywhere, anytime, even when the libel is not in response to a press inquiry, does not concern pending legislation, does not occur in the halls of Congress, and concerns private citizens, minor children, from a jurisdiction neither mem­ber of Congress represents?

Could Congress members immunize themselves from criminal prosecution next? Are there any limits? Right now, a member of Congress can sue a citizen for lying about that member of Congress, but a citizen cannot sue a member of Congress for lying about that citizen, even when the lie does not concern any legislative task of that member of Congress. Imagine: get elected to Congress, and now you can libel your neighbor, your ex, your business competitor, and even children.   - Robert Barnes
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According to the petition, a Senator Warren (a would-be President) and a Rep. Debra Haaland, who will likely serve in the Biden cabinet, voluntarily chose to libel a bunch of minor children from Covington, Kentucky, through their broad followings on their social media accounts, and instigated a social media lynch mob that led to threats against these children’s lives, families, and future, including death threats, threats of arson, and Hollywood movie directors showing the children shoved through large-scale shredders. After suit in state court, both Defendants removed the case to federal court, claiming it was their “duty” as member of Congress to libel these private citizen minor children, and that the Westfall Act gave members of Congress a license to libel, even when the statements were gratuitously made on social media to millions of
people about private citizen minor children from a different jurisdiction and that did not even concern any matter pending before Congress.
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If accepted, this Case could This case allows this court to clarify the scope of the Westfall Act, and whether it extends to duties of a member of Congress beyond legislative duties (if members of
Congress are intended to be covered by the Westfall Act, at all), and whether Congress has the authority to immunize itself beyond legislative actions.