The Supreme Court will probably not issue a decision in Tory v. Cochran, in which it was considering whether and when courts can enjoin libelous statements. Tory was enjoined from saying bad things about Johnnie Cochran. Cochran died today, which means the injunction will likely be automatically lifted under California law. (Civil libel law generally protects only the reputations of the living, not the dead; once the victim of a defamation is dead, there’s no more basis either for a damages award or an injunction, even if the injunction would be permissible if the victim were still alive.)
This means that the case before the Supreme Court will become moot; a Supreme Court decision would no longer affect the outcome of this particular litigation. The Court will therefore likely dismiss the case without an opinion. Incidentally, the legal document filed with the court to note that a party has died, and in this case to urge a dismissal of the case, is called a “suggestion of death.”
Maybe I’m mistaken, since I’m not an appellate procedure maven (and maybe I’d be mistaken even if I was). But that’s how things seem to me, and to Howard Bashman, who is indeed an appellate procedure maven.
UPDATE: Ann Althouse points out: “Don’t speak ill of the dead? Actually, the law prefers it.”
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