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Defamation

Aug 2023

Pennsylvania Legislators Introduce Anti-Slapp Legislation

Michael Berry

HB 1466 builds on UPEPA and the collective experience of states with existing anti-SLAPP laws, while accounting for distinctive features of Pennsylvania legal practice.

Aug 2023

Colorado Court Grants Anti-SLAPP Motions of Media Defendants Sued for Reporting on Health Company Fallout With State

Steve Zansberg and Lauren Russell

On August 15, a trial judge in Arapahoe County, Colorado became the fourth state jurist to dismiss libel claims against media companies applying Colorado’s anti-SLAPP Act, passed into law in 2019.

Aug 2023

Court Affirms Fee Award Against Arizona Lawmakers Who Filed Groundless, Bad-Faith Defamation Lawsuit Against Political Rival

Kennison Lay

Plaintiffs’ pleadings were “riddled with irrelevant allegations” and “irrelevant arguments,” and their appeal was “both groundless and brought in bad faith.” 

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Aug 2023

Court Affirms Dismissal of Holocaust Complicity “Group Libel” Lawsuit

Damon Dunn

An Illinois appellate court affirmed dismissal of defamation and false light invasion of privacy claims over a Chicago Sun-Times column that ascribed “felonies under the laws of Illinois and Poland” to the “Plaintiffs and/or their families and Poles in general” when it referred to “widespread collaboration” in the killing of Jews during WWII.

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Aug 2023

Article Tying Nursing Home Magnate to Human Trafficking, Medicaid Fraud & Elder Abuse Protected As Fair Report, True, and Opinion

Alia Smith

Judge Azrack held that the challenged statements – concerning the poor quality of some of Landa’s nursing homes and alleged financial and other improprieties – were fair reports under N.Y. Civil Rights Law § 74, were substantially true, or were non-actionable opinions.

Aug 2023

New York Times Wins Defamation Suit Over Reporting on Internet Harassment Campaigns

The suit stemmed from a January 2021 story, in which Times reporter Kashmir Hill reported on the phenomenon of “complaint sites”: websites that allow people to hurl anonymous accusations online that then ricochet across the internet through a constellation of interconnected sites.

Jul 2023

Charity’s Defamation Claim Against Canadian Public Broadcaster Can Continue in U.S. Federal Court

Sam Lachman

The Court dismissed the charity’s claims for breach of contract, promissory estoppel, and negligent misrepresentation for lack of subject-matter jurisdiction, leaving its defamation claim to proceed to discovery. At issue is

Jul 2023

Ohio Appellate Court Upholds Post-Trial Libel Injunction

John C. Greiner

An Ohio court recently demonstrated how a court may enjoin a party from libeling someone, without violating the Constitution.

Jul 2023

Blackwater Founder Erik Prince’s Claims Against The Intercept Dismissed for Lack of Actual Malice

Margaret N. Strouse

Judge Preska referenced the actual malice standard under New York’s anti-SLAPP statute but, because actual malice already was required of Prince as a public figure, she did not decide which source of the actual malice standard should govern.

Jul 2023

Maine Supreme Court Affirms Trial Win for Newspaper That Reported on Sex Abuse Allegations and Coverup

Cynthia Counts

The Maine Supreme Court affirmed a jury’s verdict in favor of a newspaper company and two journalists accused of defamation for reporting on decades old sex abuse allegations against a former police captain.

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