Libel
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QUICKLINK Pennsylvania · November 5, 2009 · Libel
Pennsylvania high court overturns $3.5m defamation verdict
The Pennsylvania Supreme Court on Wednesday overturned a $3.5 million defamation verdict against Wilkes-Barre's The Citizens' Voice and ordered a new trial after finding the original trial may have been fixed by two former judges and a reputed crime boss, the Times Leader reported.
The case began when Thomas Joseph sued the Voice after it reported on an investigation into his connection with alleged mobster William D’Elia. Joseph was . . . [more]
— Kirk Davis, 2:14 pm · Comments: 0
QUICKLINK New Jersey · October 14, 2009 · Libel
N.J. high court to decide future of state "fair report" privilege
The New Jersey Supreme Court heard oral arguments this morning in the appeal of a 2008 libel ruling that considerably narrowed the state’s “fair report” privilege that protects journalists who report on information contained in court filings, Newark's The Star-Ledger reported.
Before the appellate court ruling, journalists in New Jersey could not be sued for libel if they accurately reported from any court documents, even if the allegations in the lawsuit later proved . . . [more]
— Cristina Abello, 5:55 pm · Comments: 0
QUICKLINK Massachusetts · October 13, 2009 · Libel
Jury finds for libel defendant in case over truth as defense
A Massachusetts jury has decided that a truthful mass e-mail criticizing the former employee of an office supply company is not libelous because it was not sent with actual malice, Law.com reports. The verdict was the latest round in a case that questioned well-established libel jurisprudence when a federal appeals court found that the truth can still be libelous.
The case, Noonan v. Staples, began when an employee filed a libel suit against Staples, Inc., for sending out an e-mail message that . . . [more]
— Cristina Abello, 5:52 pm · Comments: 0
QUICKLINK South Carolina · September 24, 2009 · Libel
Dear Elmer Fudd: Respond to subpoena or be revealed
A South Carolina newspaper alerted an anonymous online commenter that he or she has until Oct. 2 to respond to a Myrtle Beach Chamber of Commerce subpoena or the newspaper will hand over the commenter’s identity.
The publisher of Myrtle Beach's The Sun News passed along the chamber’s subpoena to the commenter on Sept. 12, according to the newspaper. The chamber filed a defamation suit against an online commenter who used the name "Elmer Fudd," earlier this month in county . . . [more]
— Ansley Schrimpf, 6:10 pm · View reader comments (1)
QUICKLINK Texas · September 22, 2009 · Libel
Dismissal of Branch Davidian defamation case upheld
A Texas appellate court ruled last week that the defamation suit filed by a cameraman against a college newspaper he thought wrongfully suggested that he had tipped off David Koresh's Branch Davidian compound about an impending federal raid in 1993 was rightfully dismissed by the trial court, the Waco Tribune-Herald reported.
James Edwin Peeler’s suit against Baylor University arose . . . [more]
— Cristina Abello, 4:42 pm · Comments: 0
QUICKLINK New York · September 11, 2009 · Libel
Ex-congressman's defamation suit thrown out under SLAPP law
A New York judge has dismissed a former congressman’s defamation suit against a person who criticized him anonymously on a newspaper website, The Journal News in New York's Lower Hudson Valley reported. The court dismissed the libel claim under an anti-SLAPP statute, which protects speakers from "strategic lawsuits against public participation."
Westchester County Judge Richard B. . . . [more]
— Cristina Abello, 1:08 pm · View reader comments (2)
QUICKLINK Florida · August 31, 2009 · Libel
St. Petersburg Times hit with $10.1 million verdict.
A jury returned a $10.1 million libel decision against the St. Petersburg Times last week in a case brought by the former chief of medicine at a V.A. hospital.
The doctor claimed that a series of articles contained a number of factual inaccuracies, but the newspaper said he had not proven that the stories were false and stood by its reporting.
— Posted at 6:57 pm · Comments: 0
QUICKLINK New York · August 18, 2009 · Libel
Judge rules blogger's identity must be revealed
A blogger lost his bid to keep his identity secret after a judge in New York City ruled that a fashion model had established a legitimate defamation claim against the blogger.
Establishing a legitimate underlying claim is necessary under New York rules of discovery before a subpoena to reveal an anonymous speaker will be enforced, according to the court.
The blogger had created a site called "Skanks in NYC," and had featured model Liskula Cohen in several . . . [more]
— Posted at 6:01 pm · View reader comments (1)
NEWS MEDIA UPDATE District of Columbia · August 14, 2009 · Libel
Court sets new standard for unmasking speakers
The District of Columbia’s highest court Thursday announced a demanding new standard that plaintiffs must meet before they can obtain the names of anonymous Internet commenters.
According to the decision (PDF download) in Solers, Inc. v. Doe, the case stems from a complaint submitted on the Software & Information Industry Association’s website. An anonymous tipster used the SIIA’s online form to accuse Solers of using pirated software. The SIIA investigated and cleared Solers, but it declined to disclose the identity of the tipster due to a “long standing policy of keeping the identity of [its] sources anonymous.” Solers filed claims for defamation and "tortious interference with prospective advantageous business opportunities” against the unknown tipster – named as a “John Doe” in the suit – and issued a subpoena to the SIIA demanding the name.
The District of Columbia Court of Appeals noted that the case “presents us with issues of first impression – whether the First Amendment protects the . . . [more]
— Rory Eastburg, 3:00 pm · Comments: 0
QUICKLINK Pennsylvania · August 5, 2009 · Libel
Judge sees 'appearance of impropriety' in defamation judgment
The involvement of two disgraced judges in a $3.5 million defamation judgment against the Wilkes-Barre, Pa., Citizens' Voice persuaded a reviewing judge to recommend that the verdict be discarded, The Associated Press reported Wednesday.
The lawsuit, brought by a businessman over the newspaper's reports about raids on his home and business and a mobster's home, was originally decided by former Luzerne County Judge Mark Ciavarella, according the AP. He is one of the two judges who pleaded guilty to . . . [more]
— Lucas Tanglen, 5:48 pm · Comments: 0
NEWS MEDIA UPDATE Texas · July 22, 2009 · Libel
Texas court says online journalist is part of the media
An online reporter qualifies as a journalist entitled to certain protections under state law, a Texas appellate court ruled last month.
The reporter, Joe Kaufman, sought a pre-trial appeal of a lower court's refusal to dismiss defamation charges against him. In Texas, members of the media have an automatic right to pre-trial appeals if the claim is rooted in the First Amendment. The plaintiffs -- a coalition of seven Islamic associations -- challenged whether Kaufman is a journalist because his work appeared on the Internet.
The defamation claim comes from an article Kaufman wrote for Front Page Magazine, an online publication of the David Horowitz Freedom Center. The article was about Muslim Family Day at Six Flags Over Texas and highlighted links between one of the event's sponsors, the Islamic Circle of North America, and third-parties with connections to terrorism. The plaintiffs are other Islamic groups that were listed as sponsors on an promotional flier but were not named in the article. The Islamic Circle of North America did not sue.
The Texas . . . [more]
— Jonathan Jones, 6:12 pm · Comments: 0
QUICKLINK New York · July 17, 2009 · Libel
Court narrows judge's defamation lawsuit against Daily News
A judge in New York may proceed with part of his defamation lawsuit against the New York Daily News and columnist Errol Louis, but his claims against a lawyer who criticized him were dismissed, the New York Law Journal reported Friday.
The judge presiding over the case narrowed the claim against the Daily News to one article the court determined might have led readers to believe Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice Larry D. Martin was corrupt, . . . [more]
— Lucas Tanglen, 1:04 pm · Comments: 0
QUICKLINK Washington · July 13, 2009 · Libel
Wash. appeals court will review P-I defamation case
The Washington state appellate court is planning to review an odd defamation case against the Seattle Post-Intelligencer in which the plaintiff does not dispute the accuracy of the report but claims it libeled him anyway, The News Tribune of Tacoma reports.
Warren Yeakey reportedly sued the Post-Intelligencer in November, claiming a package of articles published two years earlier had defamed him. The newspaper had written about the death of a Bellevue man during a crane accident; . . . [more]
— Jonathan Jones, 4:54 pm · Comments: 0
NEWS MEDIA UPDATE Hawaii · July 2, 2009 · Libel
Court upholds dismissal of libel claims in Hawaii case
A state appellate court in Hawaii has upheld the dismissal of a lawsuit brought by a suspected serial killer against two publications.
Waldorf Roy Wilson sued Honolulu Magazine and The Garden Island newspaper for libel, invasion of privacy and intentional infliction of emotional distress after the two publications reported on a police investigation into the rapes of three women, two of whom were also killed. Police investigating the attacks questioned Wilson, who had already served time for rape and kidnapping and was out on parole.
Wilson was never arrested or charged in that case, but the magazine and the newspaper did report that he was questioned. Wilson filed suit, alleging that he was defamed in that the publications accused him of being the killer.
The lower court granted summary judgment for the defendants on all claims, and the appellate court upheld that decision.
Regarding the libel claims, the court ruled that none of the articles factually said Wilson was the killer; they merely reported that he was a suspect. The court . . . [more]
— Samantha Fredrickson, 12:32 pm · Comments: 0
NEWS MEDIA UPDATE New Mexico · June 25, 2009 · Libel
CBS libel case to go to jury on actual malice
CBS could have acted with actual malice when it broadcast a story about a government employee who was investigated for allegations she had used federal dollars to buy a Ford Mustang, a federal court in New Mexico has ruled.
The network had reported several times on the government's investigations into Lillian Anaya, a procurement assistant at Los Alamos National Laboratory until she was suspended in 2002. Anaya had been the target of internal and FBI inquiries for her alleged use of a company credit card to purchase a $30,000 customized Mustang.
Anaya sued the network in 2006 for libel over its coverage of her case. The U.S. District Court ruled that Anaya, though not a public figure initially, became a limited purpose public figure in 2003 after she thrust herself into the media. The court then went on to find possible evidence of actual malice in regard to some statements made during the last two CBS broadcasts that would have to go to a jury. The court found no evidence of actual malice in many of the earlier broadcasts.
The ruling initially came down in December and . . . [more]
— Samantha Fredrickson, 7:10 pm · View reader comments (1)
NEWS MEDIA UPDATE Minnesota · June 25, 2009 · Libel
Internet posting can lead to privacy claim, court finds
Posting private information about someone on the Internet is enough to allow an invasion-of-privacy claim no matter how many people actually see it, the Minnesota Court of Appeals held this week.
In the published opinion, the court created a broad rule "that the publicity element of an invasion-of-privacy claim is satisfied when private information is posted on a publicly accessible Internet website."
The case centers on a MySpace profile set up in 2006 mocking the plaintiff. The profile, under the name "Rotten Candy," included a picture of the plaintiff. It said she had a sexually transmitted disease, was cheating on her husband and was addicted to plastic surgery.
The woman had recently learned that she had a sexually transmitted disease after going to Fairview Cedar Ridge Clinic. A medical assistant who is related to the plaintiff's husband worked at the clinic. After seeing the woman there, the assistant became curious and accessed the plaintiff's medical file without authorization.
The medical assistant then told another relative, . . . [more]
— Jonathan Jones, 4:46 pm · View reader comments (1)
QUICKLINK U.S. · June 16, 2009 · Libel
Book released despite threats from federal prosecutor
The author of a book that has come under fire from Illinois prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald held a press conference today at the National Press Club in Washington, responding to Fitzgerald's threats of a libel lawsuit with the release of a new edition.
Peter Lance rang in the release of the paperback issue of his book, "Triple Cross, How Bin Laden’s Master Spy Penetrated the CIA, the Green Berets, and the FBI," with a lengthy description of his research findings. He also addressed Fitzgerald's threats to . . . [more]
— Caitlin Dickson, 4:50 pm · View reader comments (3)
NEWS MEDIA UPDATE U.S. · June 12, 2009 · Libel
Libel tourism bill passes House Judiciary Committee
The House Judiciary Committee on Thursday passed a bill aimed at dulling the domestic effects of so-called "libel tourism," whereby plaintiffs seek out countries with heavy-handed defamation laws in which to sue over publications they don't like.
The bill that passed, H.R. 2765, put forth by Rep. Steve Cohen (D-Tenn.), would prevent American courts from recognizing foreign libel judgments that are deemed "repugnant" to the First Amendment. It does not go as far as two other libel tourism bills under consideration in Congress, both of which would allow libel defendants to counter-sue the plaintiffs who bring such claims against them in foreign courts.
Those bills -- H.R. 1304, sponsored by Rep. Peter King (R-NY), and S. 449, sponsored by Sen. Arlen Specter (D-PA) -- have not yet been put to a vote.
Cohen’s bill . . . [more]
— Samantha Fredrickson, 3:59 pm · Comments: 0
QUICKLINK Illinois · June 10, 2009 · Libel
Federal prosecutor takes on book publisher
Federal prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald, who is certainly no stranger to the news media, has threatened to sue HarperCollins for false light or libel if it publishes a new edition of Peter Lance’s “Triple Cross, How Bin Laden’s Master Spy Penetrated the CIA, the Green Berets, and the FBI."
Fitzgerald, . . . [more]
— Caitlin Dickson, 5:14 pm · View reader comments (2)
QUICKLINK North Carolina · June 3, 2009 · Libel
Politican sues radio host for calling him gay
The former mayor of Raleigh, N.C. and a candidate for chairman of the state's Republican party has sued a local radio show host for libel, The Associated Press reports.
Fetzer stated in his complaint that he is not gay, according to the wire service, and that being called gay is defamatory because it is akin to charging him with a "crime or offense in moral turptitude."
But a 1994 North Carolina appellate ruling held that "falsely accusing someone of being gay or bisexual wasn't . . . [more]
— Samantha Fredrickson, 4:53 pm · View reader comments (2)
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