Judge Rejects Soldier's Suit Over "Fahrenheit 9/11"

A federal judge threw out an Iraq war veteran's lawsuit Wednesday that claimed filmmaker Michael Moore used a clip from a television interview without the veteran's permission to falsely portray him as anti-war in "Fahrenheit 9/11."

Sgt. Peter Damon, a National Guardsman, was seeking $85 million, claiming "loss of reputation, emotional distress, embarrassment, and personal humiliation" due to his appearance in Moore's 2004 documentary criticizing the Bush administration and the war in Iraq.

U.S. District Judge Douglas Woodlock ruled immediately, and threw out the lawsuit. He said anyone watching Damon's brief appearance in the film would not believe Damon shared the anti-war and anti-Bush views that Moore expresses in him film. Woodlock also agreed Moore did not defame Damon by showing a brief clip from an interview he did on NBC Nightly News. He said the First Amendment gives Moore wide leeway in expressing his political opinion in his films.