Constitutional Law

N.Y. newspaper wins $8 million in suit against Yonkers mayor

By By The Associated Press

NEW YORK — A federal jury has awarded a newspaper in the suburbs north of New York City $8 million in its lawsuit against the mayor of Yonkers, who the paper claims wrongly confiscated copies after it ran articles critical of him.

The jury yesterday also found that The Westchester Guardian did not defame Mayor Philip Amicone when it reported on the eve of the 2007 mayoral election that he visited strip clubs.

Amicone?s spokesman, David Simpson, told The Journal News the mayor was disappointed with the verdict. He said Amicone had never been to a strip club.

The club is owned by the weekly paper?s publisher, Sam Zherka.

The lawsuit said news racks and copies of the paper were illegally seized by city employees.

The paper hailed the verdict as a victory for First Amendment rights.

Full post as published by First Amendment Center on October 13, 2010 (boomark / email).