US blogger fined for exposing mortgage fraud -

A US blogger who caused a man to lose his lost his job after reporting his mortgage fraud has been fined by a glorious US court.

Blogger Johnny Northside Hoff told the truth when he linked ex-community leader Jerry Moore to a high-profile mortgage fraud.

The post got Moore fired and he then sued Hoff and surprisingly a jury agreed with him in the Land of the Fee.

The Hennepin County jury ordered Hoff to pay Moore $35,000 for lost wages and $25,000 for emotional distress.

John Hoff's blog, The Adventures of Johnny Northside, has 300 to 500 readers daily. Moore was the former director of the Jordan Area Community Council.

According to the Star Tribune,  lawyers are divided as to whether the case would be overturned.

Jane Kirtley, a University of Minnesota professor of media law and ethics, said the cause was an example of "trash torts." It is what someone does when they can't sue for libel because the allegation is true.

She predicted the verdict will be overturned because it is covered by the First Amendment.

But U of M law professor William McGeveran, was not convinced that an appeals courts would retract a jury .

After Moore was fired by Jordan Area Community Council in January 2009, he was hired at the University of Minnesota's Urban Research and Outreach/Engagement Center (sic) to study mortgage foreclosures.

When Hoff found out, he wrote a post accusing Moore of being involved in a "high-profile fraudulent mortgage," one of several that resulted in a 16-year prison sentence for former real estate agent Larry Maxwell.

Moore was not charged in the Maxwell case, although Hoff claimed he had documentation.

District Judge Denise Reilly threw out four of the five statements, saying they were either opinion or the comments of others on the blog.

But the jury agreed with Clark's claim that Hoff had committed "tortious interference" by meddling with Moore's employment.