Gloria Allred calls for Limbaugh to be sued for defamation

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — A high-profile attorney is calling for Rush Limbaugh to be prosecuted on a defamation charge, saying an obscure Florida law can be used to punish him for calling a college student a “slut” and a “prostitute” on the air.

Gloria Allred, the famed celebrity lawyer, sent a letter to the Palm Beach County Attorney’s Office on Thursday saying prosecutors should consider a charge under an 1883 law making it a misdemeanor to question a woman’s chastity.

“He has personally targeted her and vilified her, and he should have to bear the consequences of his extremely outrageous, tasteless and damaging conduct,” Allred said in a phone interview Friday.

Limbaugh had no immediate comment on the letter and didn’t address it in the opening hour of his radio show today.

Denise Nieman, the county attorney, said she forwarded the letter to the state attorney’s office, which handles criminal matters. The state attorney’s office had no immediate comment.

Whether prosecutors will take the request seriously and whether such a case could pose First Amendment issues remained to be seen. But the law should be used because it’s still on the books, Allred said.