Josh Duggar and his four sisters lose lawsuit against Bauer Publishing

Josh Duggar's molestation scandal was publicized in 2015. The report claimed that Josh molested five girls, four of which were his sisters Jill, Jessa, Jinger, and Joy-Anna. The controversy caused the Duggar family to suspend their long-time reality TV show "19 Kids and Counting" on TLC. It also brought shame and disgraced the Duggar family. Due to the incident, Josh and his four sisters filed separate lawsuits against In Touch Weekly's parent company, Bauer Publishing. The reality stars complained that their identities should have been redacted by the cops before they handed the report to the magazine.

Unfortunately for the Duggars, the law wasn't on their side.

Bauer Publishing wins against the Duggars' lawsuit

On Thursday, a federal court in Fayetteville, Arkansas dismissed Josh's lawsuit against Bauer Publishing. The same verdict was given to Jill Duggar, Jessa Duggar, Jinger Duggar, and Joy-Anna Duggar's lawsuits against the same publishing, Daily Mail reported.

Aside from the magazine, the Duggar ladies also sued the city of Springdale and Washington County and linked officials. The Duggar family claimed that the authorities should have revised and removed their names in the data before handing it to the magazine.

The cops who handed the report to In Touch Weekly made a mistake when they forgot to redact Jill, Jessa, Jinger , and Joy-Anna's names.

However, according to the judge, the publication's move was protected by the First Amendment, which stated that if a newspaper lawfully obtains truthful information about a matter of public significance, then the state official may not constitutionally punish the publication. Thus, the court could not hold Bauer Publishing liable for their report.

The Duggars slammed for protecting Josh after his scandal

In the midst of Josh's molestation scandal, "19 Kids and Counting" fans slammed the family for still protecting him. Michelle Duggar accused the media of victimizing their daughters when they reported that the Duggar ladies were victims of incest. Jessa also defended her brother by saying that what happened was just a "mild" incest and that Josh is not a pedophile.

Jana Duggar, on the other hand, confessed that they were more victimized by the media than by Josh.

When the family had the chance of returning to the small screen via "Counting On," they still continue to deny and make excuses for Josh's adultery, infidelity and sex addiction. In fact, despite Josh's admission that he cheated on Anna Duggar, they asked the latter to stand for their marriage. This was not a big surprise though, as the Duggar family is very conservative.

What can you say about the verdict on Josh, Jill, Jessa, Jinger and Joy-Anna’s lawsuit against the publishing? Do you agree that it was right? Drop a comment below.