Libel and Slander

Palin Libel Case Isn’t Likely to End Efforts to Weaken Press Protections

Sarah Palin’s loss of her defamation lawsuit against The New York Times has reaffirmed, for now, more than a half-century of legal precedent that protects journalists when they make inadvertent — even sloppy — mistakes. But her case still may have achieved another aim that she and her lawyers said they had all along: to […]

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Cardi B Awarded $1.25 Million in Libel Lawsuit Against Blogger Tasha K

A federal jury awarded the rapper Cardi B around $4 million in a libel lawsuit against a celebrity gossip blogger who had posted videos in 2018 claiming that she was a prostitute who had contracted sexually transmitted infections and used cocaine. Cardi B, whose real name is Belcalis Almanzar, had sued the celebrity gossiper, known […]

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Sarah Palin Has Covid, Delaying Libel Case Against The New York Times

Sarah Palin has tested positive for the coronavirus, forcing the delay of her defamation trial against The New York Times until next week. The trial, which was set to begin with jury selection on Monday morning, is now scheduled to start on Feb. 3. Ms. Palin’s in-person testimony in a federal courtroom in Lower Manhattan […]

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Sarah Palin v. New York Times Spotlights Push to Loosen Libel Law

When former President Donald J. Trump called for scrapping laws that offer the news media broad protection from libel suits — “We’re going to have people sue you like you’ve never got sued before,” he said in 2016 — many journalists and the lawyers who defend them brushed it off as an empty threat. But […]

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In Peru, Courts ‘Used Like Whips’ to Silence Journalists

The police raided a reporter’s house after he investigated an elite Catholic society. A court ordered journalists’ assets frozen following a defamation complaint from a powerful figure. A sports journalist called the head of a soccer club inept, and was sentenced to a year in prison. And then, last week, a judge sentenced a Peruvian […]

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Judge Says New York Times Can Retain Project Veritas Memos, for Now

A New York State appeals court on Tuesday temporarily lifted a judicial order requiring The New York Times to turn over or destroy copies of legal memos prepared for the conservative group Project Veritas, in a case that has drawn the focus of First Amendment and journalism advocates. The stay, issued by the Appellate Division […]

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Judge Clarifies Order on New York Times Coverage of Project Veritas

A New York trial court judge on Tuesday issued a clarification in an order that has temporarily prevented The New York Times from seeking out or publishing certain documents related to the conservative group Project Veritas, allowing The Times some latitude to report on the organization until a final ruling is reached. The clarification, by […]

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Australian Minister Wins Defamation Case Over Tweet

The case’s outcome was not unheard-of in a country with notoriously strict defamation laws, but it was unusual that the defendant was not another politician or a high-profile journalist, said Michael Douglas, a senior lecturer in private law at the University of Western Australia. “It’s consistent with the theme that this government is content in […]

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Order Blocking New York Times Coverage of Project Veritas Stays in Place

A New York trial court judge on Tuesday declined to lift an order that temporarily prohibits The New York Times from publishing or pursuing certain documents related to the conservative group Project Veritas. The judge said at a hearing that he needed additional time to consider arguments and asked for additional briefs next week. The […]

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