Jury awards Michael Mann $1 million in defamation case against critics of his climate research

A jury in Washington D.C. on Thursday awarded Dr. Michael Mann $1 million in a defamation suit against two critics of his climate change research, ending a decade-long legal battle.

Mann, a University of Pennsylvania earth and environmental scientist, filed a lawsuit in 2012 in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia against Rand Simberg, an analyst at the Competitive Enterprise Institute, and National Review blogger Mark Steyn.

According Judge Alfred Irving’s summary of the case given to the jury, Simberg had posted an article on his blog that compared the Penn State’s investigation into assistant coach Jerry Sandusky, who was found guilty in 2012 of sexually abusing 10 young boys over the course of 15 years, to the investigation of Mann’s research on global historic temperatures as shown in the scientist's controversial hockey stick graph, which many scientists have questioned.

Steyn quoted Simberg’s post and called Mann’s research “fraudulent.” Mann contended that as a result of these posts, his reputation was harmed.

Testimony from the defendants’ witnesses revealed a number of instances where Mann had engaged in what they say is unethical behavior toward critics and other scientists.

The jury levied punitive damages of $1,000 against  Simberg and $1 million against Steyn.

Mann issued a statement afterwards praising the verdict. “I hope this verdict sends a message that falsely attacking climate scientists is not protected speech,” his statement said.