Overlawyered has this story about a South Carolina blogger who was hit with a $1.8 million judgment, including $1 million in punitive damages, for making defamatory blog posts.

Yikes! Be careful what you say, fellow bloggers. The award isn’t quite as scary as it sounds, however, because the defendant apparently didn’t bother to show up to defend himself. As some commenters to the Overlawyered post have pointed out, it’s not all that surprising for an unopposed lawsuit to result in a large judgment.