A Small Newspaper in Iowa Wins a Libel Suit, but Legal Costs May Force It to Close
On July 17, 2017, the Carroll Times Herald was sued for libel after it published the first of a series of investigative pieces about a local cop who was having inappropriate relationships with teenage girls. The day after the Times Herald published its first article about the police officer, he filed a libel suit contending that his reputation had been destroyed, along with his employability as a law enforcement officer.
Devin Nunes Files Defamation Complaint against Reporter Ryan Lizza
The lawsuit argues that Lizza's widely read article, "Devin Nunes’s Family Farm is Hiding a Politically Explosive Secret," is a "legion of lies" and that Lizza published it with the specific intent to harm the congressman’s reputation.
Virginia Lt. Governor Files $400 Million Defamation Suit Against CBS
Virginia’s Lieutenant Governor, Justin Fairfax, is suing CBS for defamation for airing separate interviews with two women, Vanessa Tyson and Meredith Watson, who have accused him of sexual assault.
High School Classmate of Justice Kavanaugh Sues HuffPost for Defamation
An article written by Ashley Feinberg about Kavanaugh's high school class implied that Derrick Evans was implicated in the death of David Kennedy.
Federal Appeals Court Reinstates Sarah Palin’s Defamation Suit Against NY Times
A federal appeals court reinstated Sarah Palin’s 2017 defamation suit against The New York Times. Palin had sued the paper for an editorial that she alleges incorrectly linked her and her PAC to the 2011 shooting of Rep. Gabby Giffords of Arizona. “This case is ultimately about the First Amendment, but the subject matter implicated in this appeal is far less dramatic: rules of procedure and pleading standards,” reads the unanimous decision by the federal appeal court judges.
Deep Dive: The Nicholas Sandmann Defamation Lawsuits
This deep dive includes information about the defamation suits stemming from a viral encounter between a group of high school boys and a Native American activist. Students can use it to understand such as protected opinion, public figure doctrine, and other First Amendment concepts.
Bakery Awarded $44 Million in Total Damages in Defamation Suit Against Oberlin College
A jury in Ohio awarded $33 million in punitive damages to a local bakery that had sued Oberlin College for libel and slander. The complaint filed in Ohio state court in November 2017, alleged that Oberlin was complicit in supporting and encouraging student protests against Gibson’s bakery following the arrests of three African American students. Oberlin students began protesting the store, passing out fliers calling the bakery “a racist establishment with a long account of racial profiling and discrimination.”
Judge Tosses Defamation Lawsuit Against Jeanine Pirro and Fox News
A New York State Supreme Court judge dismissed a defamation lawsuit against Fox News and one of its hosts, Judge Jeanine Pirro, brought by civil rights activist DeRay McKesson who claimed that Pirro implied that he incited violence against a police officer.