Harvard Law Professor Files Defamation Suit Against The New York Times Over Epstein Donation Story
Harvard Law Professor Lawrence Lessig is suing The New York Times for defamation. In a complaint filed on January 13th in the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts, Lessig alleges that the Times used a “false and defamatory ‘clickbait’ Internet headline and lede to drive readers to their story and web site.”
Hartford Police Lieutenant Sues to Unmask Anonymous Commenters
According to the complaint, some of the site’s commenters include police officers who have used the blog’s comments section to defame the lieutenant.
Judge Says Trump Can’t Dismiss E. Jean Carroll’s Defamation Suit
In her ruling, Justice Doris Ling-Cohan said that the president failed to submit any evidence in support of his request to dismiss Carroll's defamation lawsuit, writing “There is not even a tweet, much less an affidavit by defendant Trump in support of his motion."
Babson College Fires Professor For Joke He Made on Private Facebook Account
Asheen Phansey was fired on Thursday for a satirical Facebook post he made about President Donald Trump’s threat to bomb 52 sites “important to Iran & Iranian culture.”
Appeals Court Considers Massachusetts’ Law Against Secretly Recording Police
The ACLU of Massachusetts says that the law, which was originally written to protect citizens from government surveillance, is now used to punish people for exercising their First Amendment right to gather information about public officials.
CNN Settles Defamation Suit With Family of Covington Catholic Teen
The family of Nicholas Sandman sued CNN back in March 2019 for $275 million over their reporting of a viral encounter between the Covington teen and an indigenous activist. Among other things, the lawsuit claimed CNN targeted Sandmann because he was a supporter of President Donald Trump.
Iowa State University Faces Lawsuit After Banning Chalk Messages
“Through the use of three policies –a ban on chalking, a prohibition on student emails related to campaigns and elections, and a Campus Climate Reporting System–Iowa State University has created an elaborate investigative and enforcement regime designed to chill speech concerning political and social issues of public concern,” Speech First said in a statement on its site.
While requests to remove threatening comments in defamation cases are not unheard of, this order stood out because it required the defendants to delete not only their own posts but also the comments made by third parties.