Response to Inaccuracies in The New York Times Story On Legal Schnauzer First Amendment Case

This is Carol, Roger's wife. An article covering the Legal Schnauzer first amendment case was written by reporter Campbell Robertson and published in the Sunday, Jan. 12 issue of The New York Times. The article in the nation's most prestigious newspaper came after an almost three hour interview with Carol Shuler and an hour's worth of four separate interviews with Roger Shuler via telephone from the Shelby County Jail, where he has been unlawfully incarcerated since Oct. 23 due to a lawsuit filed by Republican political figure Rob Riley.

As Shuler noted previously, he is pleased with the attention The New York Times has shined on the issue of terroristic threats against journalists and bloggers and those who support free speech, however, the article contains a number of glaring inaccuracies. 

In response to Campbell Robertson's report in The New York Times which stated that Shuler and his wife had refused to hire a lawyer, Roger Shuler goes on to reply as follows:

"I had specifically told Campbell Robertson that we are open to being represented by the right lawyer with the right strategy under the right circumstances. I felt I made that very clear, but there must have been some misunderstanding because The New York Times incorrectly reported that I was refusing to hire a lawyer. That's not true and I just want to make sure that's clear."

Shuler addressed the second issue which has to do with statements in The New York Times article to the effect that he has a history of defamation claims. Roger Shuler responded as follows:

"The New York Times' reporter Campbell Robertson incorrectly hinted that I have a long history of problems with defamation cases. Here is the truth. In Mr. Robertson's paragraph on that subject, he refers to a lawsuit involving my neighbor, a man named Mike McGarity who has an extensive criminal record. To make it clear that lawsuit had nothing to do with defamation or nothing to do with my role as a journalist. It was strictly about a property matter that Mr. McGarity sued me over and to make it clear he has an extensive criminal record that has been documented on my blog. 

To summarize, I became a professional journalist in May 1978 and had never been sued in my capacity as a journalist for defamation or anything else until Fall 2013. That's more than 35 years without a defamation lawsuit and The New York Times article did not make that clear. The only defamation lawsuits I've ever had are the ones involving Rob Riley and one filed roughly the same time by the same political forces in Alabama from Luther Strange's former campaign manager Jessica Mederios Garrison. That's it. For the record, Mr. Robertson told me that he has one defamation claim that he has had to fight and he's not worked for The New York Times anywhere near 35 years so essentially he has more of a history with defamation cases than I do. 

And while I very much appreciate Mr. Robertson's efforts to report the story and the spotlight his newspaper shined on the issues, I do want to make sure that certain inaccuracies are corrected."