Libel
"Yes, I'm with … Hamas and Hezbollah and Islamic Jihad but up to a Point" Visiting Prof's Suit Against Columbia Dismissed
"Professor Abdou provides no authority which stands for the proposition that expressing disapproval of a foreign terrorist organization in a Congressional hearing amounts to discrimination or creates a hostile work environment ...."
Libel Lawsuit Over Highly Publicized L.A. Landlord-Tenant Dispute Thrown Out
The court is unmoved by plaintiff's claims that defendants' coverage of the underlying dispute led to people threatening her.
Free Speech Unmuted: Can AI Libel You? The Robby Starbuck Case
Jane and I examine the Robby Starbuck v. Google decision, one of the first major court opinions arising from generative AI "hallucinations."
VDARE's Libel Case Against N.Y. Times Thrown Out
UPDATE: Though this opinion was handed down just two weeks ago, it turns out to be a slightly revised version of an opinion from July 2022; my apologies for not noticing this at the outset.
Magistrate Judge Recommends Massive Sanctions on Rabbi Shmuley Boteach for Violating Court Order in Anti-Semitism Lawsuit
The recommendation includes entry of a default judgment against Boteach in a defamation lawsuit brought against him by a Florida hotel.
Lawsuit Over Social Media Allegations of Hair Accessory Design Theft (with a Race Dimension) Can Go Forward
A sample allegation: "[T]his was orchestrated because at this point, you fucking know that this was not an original idea. You know that it was stolen from a black creator, and you are still doing backflips to make excuses for that."
Conservative Commentator Robby Starbuck's Lawsuit Alleging Google AI Had Defamed Him Can Go Forward
A Delaware trial court has denied Google's motion to dismiss, and concluded that, if the facts as alleged by Starbuck were true, he would have a legal basis for recovery.
U Tennessee Track & Field Head Coach Seeks Preliminary Injunction Against "Untruthful, Derogatory and Offensive Statements" Plus More Commentary
A Magistrate Judge recommended today that the injunction be denied on First Amendment prior restraint grounds.
Trump Media's Lawsuit Against Wash. Post Over "Trust Linked to Porn-Friendly Bank Could Gain a Stake in Trump's Truth Social" Thrown Out
The court concluded that there wasn't enough evidence that the Post's statement (which the Post later retracted) was said with "actual malice," which is to say knowledge or recklessness about its falsehood.
Claim That Accuracy in Media Misidentified the Person Holding Allegedly Pro-Hamas-Violence Sign at Columbia Protest …
can go forward, Georgia appellate court rules.
Libel Defendant Can't "Stroll into a Deposition, Pull a Jon Lovitz and Announce," …
"'Yeah, I had no idea it was false. Yeah, that's right. Yeah,' then demand summary judgment because no one possesses contrary evidence from inside his head. That may be the ticket for comedy. It is not the ticket for summary judgment."
Libel Lawsuit Over ICE Mass Hysterectomies Claim Thrown Out
The court concluded that the particular broadcast in this case didn't name or otherwise sufficiently identify the plaintiff (Dr. Mahendra Amin), and thus wasn't "of and concerning" him for libel law purposes.
Court Rejects Sealing of Summary-Judgment-Related Filings in Trump Media Libel Suit Against Washington Post
"Highlighting the absurdity of the sealing requests, one of the exhibits TMTG seeks to seal is the Post’s 2023 article, which was widely disseminated to the public when it was published and has been on file in the public docket in this case since July 2023."
Two New Large Libel Models Lawsuits, Though Alleging Mischaracterization Rather Than Outright Hallucination
They are, by my count, the 8th and 9th such claims filed in U.S. courts.
Magistrate Judge Declines to Recuse Herself in Trump v. BBC Libel Lawsuit
The judge had, before she was appointed a judge in 2024, represented an adverse party in a different lawsuit brought by Trump in 2022.
Plaintiffs Lack Standing to Sue over Notre Dame Law Clinic's Filing Amicus Brief Condemning China's Actions Towards Uyghurs
The plaintiffs had asked for (among other things) "$1.00 as an apology to every Chinese people live in mainland China, total $1.41 billion."
