Libel
Defendant's "Cyber Campaign" "Was Multi-Faceted, Intricate and Extensive, Sly, Anonymous, and Horrible"
A court grants summary judgment in a #TheyLied case, after the defendant had stopped defending it, concluding that "Ms. Abid's refusal to litigate is purposeful and consistent with her malign, manipulative character shown in this record."
Unconstitutional for Court to Threaten Suspending Custody Rights for "Any Further Unfounded Allegations" of Abuse
The order “could encompass speech ... that [the mother] believe[s] valid and substantiated even if CPS ultimately determines that [it is] not.”
Ex-Congressman Alan Grayson Loses Libel Claim Before Eleventh Circuit
"The defendants' [reliance] on ... source materials, including an official congressional report, articles in well-known newspapers and magazines, and police reports ... '... alone ... defeat[s] any claim of actual malice.'"
#TheyLied Libel Claims Can Go Forward with Sufficient Evidence of "Actual Malice"
"We ... recognize ... that allowing this case to move forward could embolden abusers ... and could discourage victims and their families from seeking help. But, at the same time, we must acknowledge the potential for false accusations and the right that someone who is falsely accused has to recover for the harm thereby caused."
Obvious Gripe Site Isn't "False Personation"
“We conclude no reasonable person would believe Plummer created a website describing himself as vexatious, incompetent, or dishonest.”
Court Rejects Avas Flowers' Libel Claims
"The allegedly defamatory nature of this statement is the implication that Plaintiff holds itself out as a local business when it is not. But truth is an affirmative defense to defamation under Delaware law, and the ... Declaration [submitted by Avas] does not deny that Plaintiff maintains call centers abroad in locations such as Mexico or Asia."
Libel Lawsuit by Blackwater Founder Erik Prince Against The Intercept Rejected
A federal court held that Prince was a public figure, and hadn't offered enough plausible allegations that the defendants knew the statements were false or likely false (the so-called "actual malice" showing).
"One of the Side Effects of COVID-19 Is Litigation"; and in Litigation, as in Medicine, Delay Can Be Deadly
An appeal a day late (even if not a dollar short). [UPDATE: But there may be a lifesaving treatment!]
Nicki Minaj v. "Nosey Heaux" Libel Lawsuit
"On information and belief, and as discovery will likely reveal, Green has been acting as a proxy for another performer who, mistakenly believing that she and Plaintiff are stars of equal stature, has repeatedly used other social media intermediaries in a hopeless effort to advance her career at Plaintiff’s expense."
Libel Lawsuit Over Tweet by Prominent Novelist Don Winslow Can Go Forward
Winslow had accused a doctor working on contract with an immigration detention center of "perform[ing] illegal hysterectomies on women at the direction of Trump and [DHS]."
London Libel Lawsuits Punish Truth Tellers
The U.S. shouldn't import British defamation law, no matter how much Donald Trump would like to.
Court: "A Retweet Is Not Necessarily an Endorsement"
This comes in a false light lawsuit by the family of former National Security Advisor Gen. Michael Flynn, whom CNN had labeled “QAnon followers.”
Libel! I Wasn't Accused of Killing Anyone in April -- Only in May
From a libel case filed by accused triple murderer Brice Rhodes
Nicholas Sandmann's Libel Lawsuits Against Several Media Outlets Dismissed
All the lawsuits stem from the media's quoting Nathan Phillips' claims that Sandmann was "block[ing Phillips'] way" at a demonstration by the Lincoln Memorial.
Court Makes It Easier for Plaintiffs to Win Libel Lawsuits Against #MeToo Claimants
A potentially very important 2-1 decision today from the Minnesota Court of Appeals, which held that such a #MeToo post wasn’t on a “matter of public concern,” and was thus less protected by the First Amendment.
#TheyLied (or #TheyWereNegligent) Libel Claim Based on Allegations of Rape of Third Party Student Can Proceed
Among other things, "A jury could reasonably conclude that, before making so weighty an accusation as rape based on nothing more than hearsay evidence, the prudent person would, at a minimum, want to hear the other person's side of the story."
Dismissal of Libel Lawsuit Over Gallaudet U's Allegation that Frat Has "Become the Face of Systemic Racism"
The lawsuit, which stems from statements about the fraternity’s use of a salute that looks similar to a Nazi salute and robes that some viewed as similar to Klan robes was rejected chiefly on the grounds that the statement was about the fraternity not the plaintiff, and was in any event opinion.
