Rashada v. New York Post (N.Y. trial court, Aug. 11, 2011), involved a libel claim brought by Melody Rashada against the New York Post and op-ed author Patrick Dunleavy based on what seems to be this article. The article focused on four Muslim terrorism suspects, and asked how they “were radicalized to the point where […]
Archive | Defamation
College Department Chair Sues Professor for Libel, Loses
By Eugene Volokh on August 18, 2011 12:43 pm in Defamation, Freedom of Speech at Colleges and Universities
An interesting example of this fortunately rare occurrence comes in Olguin v. Santa Barbara Community College Dist. (Cal. Ct. App. Aug. 15, 2011). The case has an interesting discussion of the state-law “common interest privilege,” which is quite important in cases involving alleged defamation within an organization or in job references; but here is an […]
New York Trial Court Throws Out Libel Lawsuit Filed by Village Police Chief and Three Officers Against Anonymous Internet Commenters
The case is Varrenti v. Gannett Co. (Aug. 3). The court held that the comments, in context, would be seen as expressions of opinion rather than statements of verifiable fact — largely because readers would seem them as “sarcastic, hyperbolic, and based on rumors” — and that the comments are therefore protected against a libel […]
Do Changes to a Blog Post’s URL and the Site’s Metatags Restart the Statute of Limitations?
An interesting decision, stemming from the Wolk v. Olson litigation. Here’s the legal background: A publisher is generally not be liable once the statute of limitations (generally a year or longer) has run since the original publication. At that point, under the “single publication rule” — which is generally accepted in most states, and has […]
Jail Time (And $7000 Fine) for Saying a Restaurant’s Dishes Were “Too Salty”
The Taipei Times reports (thanks to Vadim Novik for the pointer): After visiting a Taichung beef noodle restaurant in July 2008, [defendant Liu] had dried noodles and side dishes, Liu wrote [on the blog] that the restaurant served food that was too salty, the place was unsanitary because there were cockroaches and that the owner […]
New York’s Highest Court Interpets 47 U.S.C. § 230 Broadly
The case is Shiamili v. The Real Estate Group of New York, Inc., decided today. Defendants, who are apparently real estate brokers, ran a blog. Several people posted pseudonymous comments critical of Shiamili, another real estate broker. Defendants left those comments up, and even reposted one of the comments as a separate post, with a […]
Defamation by Half-Truth?
As I blogged a while back, modern defamation law generally applies only to false statements, but at some point a literally true statement may so strongly carry a false connotation that the speaker could be held liable for the implied falsehood despite the literal truth. A classic example, mentioned in an early 1960s case — […]
First (?) Court Decision Applying Federal Anti-Libel-Tourism SPEECH Act
The case is Pontigon v. Lord (Mo. Ct. App. Apr. 19, 2011). The factual background: The appellant, Ms. Lord, is an American citizen, resident of St. Charles County, Missouri, who was born in the Philippines. The respondent, Leodegaria Sanchez, is Ms. Lord’s cousin, and a resident of Ontario, Canada, who was likewise born in the […]
Journalists Apparently Being Investigated for “Denigration of Greek National Symbols”
Another charge appears to be defamation — as best I can tell, of the country of Greece generally. From Spiegel Online: It was supposed to be a provocative piece of journalism and a tongue-in-cheek comment on German concerns about a European Union bailout for debt-ridden Greece. But the Feb. 22, 2010 cover of the weekly […]
Free Exercise Clause Absolutely Bars Slander Claims Based on Statements in Confidential Church Proceedings
So held a Kansas state trial judge in Purdum v. Purdum, 2011 WL 1430279 (Kan. Dist. Ct. Apr. 11, 2011), which dealt with a slander claim based on statements made in a church annulment proceeding. I doubt that this is right; the First Amendment ban on religious decisions by secular courts should preclude slander or […]
No First Amendment Violation When University Puts Web Sites on List of “Unreliable Websites” That Students Should Generally Avoid
Strikes me as exactly right. Interestingly, Bruce Fein, an oft-noted legal commentator, was lawyer for the plaintiffs. The case is Turkish Coalition of America v. Bruininks (D. Minn. Mar. 31): Plaintiffs Turkish Coalition of America (“TCA”) and Sinan Cingilli brought this action against The University of Minnesota and two University officials, [University President] Robert Bruininks […]
Alleged Defamation of Estranged Wife Leads to Order Not to Talk About Her, Loss of Gun Rights; Court of Appeal Reverses
The case is In re Marriage of Mendlowitz. The alleged slanders were an e-mail and a letter to the estranged wife’s business associates that seemed likely to interfere with her business relationships. They might indeed have led to a successful defamation lawsuit, and a lawsuit for interference with business relations. But a trial court judge […]
Is There a Duty To Take Down One’s Recent Defamatory Allegations, Once One Knows They Are False?
A question arose in connection with the Brandon Darby / New York Times controversy: Say that a newspaper (or some other entity) posts its own article on its site, believing it to be true, and not having serious doubts about its truth. At that point, even if some allegations in the article are actually false, […]