Armstrong sues Shirvell for defamation

Former U of M student leader Chris Armstrong has filed a defamation suit against former Michigan Assistant Attorney General Andrew Shirvell, who was fired last year for using state resources to carry out a vicious attack campaign on Armstrong.

As Andrew Shirvell prepared to graduate from Ave Maria School of Law, a group of administrators and faculty raised concerns that he “lacked the character and fitness” necessary to be a lawyer, a new lawsuit alleges.

The suit, filed by former University of Michigan student body President Chris Armstrong, goes on to accuse Shirvell of stalking him, defaming him and inflicting emotional distress on him during a “bizarre” campaign that included physical intimidation and numerous blog postings alleging Armstrong was advancing a “radical homosexual agenda,” according to the lawsuit…

The lawsuit also says that Shirvell repeatedly showed up at Armstrong’s Ann Arbor residence unannounced and uninvited.

Armstrong argues in the suit that it all adds up to defamation and that Shirvell’s “conduct deliberately and intentionally injured” Armstrong, and that his “his acts were willful and malicious.”

Despite near-universal condemnation of Shirvell’s actions, the plaintiff has an uphill battle in this case. Defamation actions in this country are notoriously difficult to win because the bar is set very high — and it’s even higher when the speech is political in nature, as it was here. The courts are generally reluctant to involve themselves in such disputes. But the repeated visits to the plaintiff’s house and other stalker-like behavior may be very close to the line on harassment. It will certainly be an interesting case to watch.