Pulse Nightclub: One Year After the Tragic Shooting, Litigation Over 911 Calls Finally Comes to a Close
By Mark R. Caramanica and Allison Kirkwood Simpson In the early morning hours of June 12, 2016, Omar Mateen entered Pulse Nightclub in Orlando, Florida and began randomly shooting patrons. All told, forty-nine people were killed that fateful night, and fifty-three others were seriously injured. After a three-hour hostage standoff, Orlando police stormed the nightclub…
New Jersey Reporter and Newspaper Get Prior Restraint Dissolved
By David Bralow The Superior Court of New Jersey in March dissolved a prior restraint injunction, prohibiting The Trentonian and its reporter, Isaac Avilucea, from publishing information obtained from a “confidential” child protection complaint because the documents were “lawfully obtained.” More precisely, the court found that the Attorney General’s Office for the State of New…
Texas Rejects “Self-Publication Theory” of Defamation
By Thomas H. Wilson and Andrew J. Clark Employers often avoid defamation suits from their former employees by refusing to disclose any information about them, except for providing names, dates of employment, and job titles to prospective employers calling for a reference. But may an employer still face liability for defamation if it tells its…
MLRC Pre-Pub Committee LIVE: The Rolling Stone/UVA Case
This May our Pre-Publication/Pre-Broadcast Committee organized an in-depth discussion, both live and via webinar, on the recently resolved Rolling Stone/ University of Virginia case. The case, which inspired coverage for months in both the legal and entertainment pages, set troubling precedent which may impact journalists, publishers, and their attorneys approaching vetting and retractions for the…
Dallas Court Delivers Defamation Victory to D Magazine in “Party Crasher” Case
By Jason P. Bloom The Dallas Court of Appeals, in a significant decision, recently reaffirmed that statements amounting to opinion, rhetorical hyperbole, and even “extravagant exaggeration” in media publications are absolutely protected by the First Amendment. D Magazine et al. v. Reyes, (Tex. App. April 18, 2017). The Court thus reversed the trial court and…
D.C. Circuit Reverses Order Denying Summary Judgment to BNA
Honest Misinterpretation Did Not Constitute Sufficient Evidence of Actual Malice By Laura Handman and Lisa Zycherman In May, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit reversed a district court order denying the Bureau of National Affairs’ motion for summary judgment on a defamation suit filed by a federal inmate. Kahl v….
Court Finds Gun Documentary Was Neither False Nor Defamatory, Dismisses Claims By Gun-Rights Advocates
By Mara Gassmann A federal district court in Virginia dismissed all claims arising out of the documentary film Under the Gun brought against film producer Atlas Films, narrator and executive producer Katie Couric, and distributor Epix by a gun-rights advocacy organization and two of its members. Virginia Citizens Defense League et al v. Couric et…
Judge Upends Jury’s Defense Verdict for Minnesota Media
By John Borger and Leita Walker KARE-TV and the St. Cloud Times won a two-week jury trial in November 2016, only to see the plaintiff prevail on post-trial motions before Minnesota district court judge Susan Burke, who ruled as a matter of law that their news coverage was defamatory and false, vacated the defense judgment,…
New York Court Grants Directed Verdict in Public Official’s Defamation by Implication Claim
By Michael J. Grygiel In what has become a rare occasion in New York State − a media defamation case that reaches a jury trial − on June 1, 2017, Orange County Supreme Court (Hon. Elaine Slobod) granted a defense motion for a directed verdict at the close of Plaintiff’s case after five days of testimony…
Supreme Court Upholds First Amendment Right to Use Social Media
By Jeff Hermes On June 19, 2017, the U.S. Supreme Court handed down its decision in Packingham v. North Carolina, No. 15-1194. Decided almost exactly twenty years after the Court’s last discussion of the intersection of the Internet and the First Amendment in Reno v. American Civil Liberties Union, 521 U.S. 844 (1997), Packingham is…
Trademark Disparagement Clause Violates First Amendment
The More Things Change… By John C. Connell and Ronald D. Coleman “What is freedom of expression? Without the freedom to offend, it ceases to exist.”– Salman Rushdie On June 19, 2017, the Supreme Court of the United States ruled in Matal v. Lee, No. 15-1293, that the disparagement clause of §2(a) of the Lanham…
The Espionage Act Turns 100: Will Trump Use It Against Journalists?
From the Executive Director’s Desk On June 15 we “celebrated” the 100th birthday of the passage of the Espionage Act. Whether a celebration, a eulogy or a careful reading of the Act is appropriate is a good question, but, in any case, as President Trump threatens both leakers and journalists, a careful look at its…
MediaLawLetter June 2017
Download Publication MLRC From the Executive Director’s DeskThe Espionage Act Turns 100: Will Trump Use It Against Journalists? SUPREME COURT Trademark Disparagement Clause Violates First AmendmentThe More Things Change…Matal v. Lee Supreme Court Upholds First Amendment Right to Use Social MediaCourt Issues Broad Statements in Support of Online LibertyPackingham v. North Carolina LIBEL & PRIVACY…