Notre Dame Professor's Lawyers Argue: Student Newspaper's Mission to Defend Notre Dame's Catholic Character Means …

that it’s probably not “‘trying to advance the public exchange of ideas’ essential to a healthy democracy.”

Prof. Tamara Kay's lawyers' response to the motion to dismiss her libel lawsuit against the Irish Rover newspaper argued that the articles about her were unprotected by the First Amendment, partly because:

[G]iven that the mission of the Irish Rover is "to articulate and defend the Catholic character of the University," it seems improbable if not impossible that in publishing the October 12 and March 22 Articles, the Irish Rover and its faculty advisors and other Notre Dame faculty were trying to advance "the public exchange of ideas" essential to a healthy democracy.

As I mentioned in an earlier post, the trial court was unimpressed, and dismissed Prof. Kay's libel claim.