Virginia Parole Board Chair Seeks $7 Million in Defamation Lawsuit
Tonya Chapman, chair of the Virginia Parole Board, filed a defamation lawsuit on March 29th in the Circuit Court for the City of Richmond against CBS affiliate WTVR-TV and reporter Jonathan Burkett. The lawsuit stems from Burkett’s reporting on a draft report from the Office of the State Inspector General (OSIG) that allegedly implicated Chapman’s involvement in the early release of a prisoner.
Dominion Voting Systems Sues Fox for Defamation
The voting technology company is suing Fox News for $1.6 billion in damages for spreading false information that their technology was used to rig the 2020 presidential election.
Sidney Powell Asks Court To Toss Dominion Voting Systems’ $1.3 Billion Defamation Lawsuit
In a motion submitted on Monday, Powell’s lawyers argue that her statements are not actionable under defamation law because she made them as an advocate-attorney of Donald Trump. Dean of Missouri Law School Lyrissa Lidsky called this argument absurd: "Attorneys have ethical obligations not to lie, and she made the false statements in her capacity as an attorney."
Court Tosses Trump Campaign’s Defamation Suit Against the New York Times
The suit against the Times was part of a string of lawsuits the Trump campaign filed in 2020 against media companies. So far, two have been dismissed and one remains ongoing.
Federal Judge Tosses Devin Nunes’ $435 Million Lawsuit Against CNN
The judge wrote that California Representative Devin Nunes failed to state adequate claims and to request a retraction before he filed his lawsuit against CNN.
Dominion Voting Systems Files $1.3 Billion Defamation Suit Against My Pillow CEO
Dominion lawyers are arguing that Mike Lindell used conspiracy theories about election fraud and voter rigging to promote his business.
Are Defamation Lawsuits Being Used to Rein in Disinformation Spread by News Outlets?
Using defamation suits to combat misinformation has some free speech advocates uneasy, as the First Amendment provides broad protections for news organizations.
Fox’s lawyers argue that they had a First Amendment privilege to report newsworthy allegations–even false ones–in a neutral way. They also claim that Smartmatic failed to establish a key requirement of a defamation claim—that Piro, Dobbs, and Bartiromo acted with “actual malice.”