The following article by the Media Matters Staff was posted on their website September 8, 2017:
On the September 6 edition of Fox News’ The Five, Fox host Greg Gutfeld repeated the false suggestion that despite the Southern Poverty Law Center’s (SPLC) long-standing reputation as one of the country’s leading progressive legal organizations, it “provided just 61 grand in legal assistance” in 2015. In reality, the SPLC spent over $1.8 million on “case cost expense” and over $15 million on “initiatives on behalf of its clients that were directed by its legal services” that year according to the organization and its 990 Form. Gutfeld was repeating a botched August 31 analysis of the SPLC’s 2015 tax return by the right-wing Washington Free Beacon, which remains uncorrected. The SPLC is now calling on Fox to correct the “inaccurate, defamatory, and irresponsible” segment.
According to the original article published by the Beacon, based on their review of the SPLC’s return, “The SPLC, which claims to boast a staff of 75 lawyers who practice in the area of children’s rights, economic justice, immigrant justice, LGBT rights, and criminal justice reform, reported spending only $61,000 on legal services in 2015.” Gutfeld ran with the figure in a monologue about the Beacon report, claiming that the organization “provided just 61 grand in legal assistance,” and adding, “the Southern Poverty Law Center appears to have no poverty and do virtually no law.” Continue reading “Southern Poverty Law Center calls on Fox to correct “inaccurate” and “irresponsible” segment about the organization”