Twitter is immune from plaintiff’s defamation suit under 47 U.S.C. § 230. Twitter’s motion to dismiss is granted. As an initial matter, the court rejects plaintiff’s argument that this is the second motion to dismiss before the court and thus ...

Tagged with: Defamation Henrico County Circuit Court Judge John Marshall Virginia Circuit Courts

A newly elected commonwealth’s attorney who allegedly maligned a former staffer at a public gathering does not have prosecutorial immunity to the staffer’s defamation claim, the Supreme Court of Virginia decided this month. The justices’ ruling revives a lawsuit against ...

Tagged with: Defamation Justice William C. Mims Personal Injury Supreme Court of Virginia

Relying on what he termed a “relaxed” Virginia standard for pleading defamation by implication, a Fairfax County judge has allowed actor Johnny Depp’s libel lawsuit against his ex-wife to go forward. Circuit Judge Bruce D. White said three statements in ...

Tagged with: Defamation Fairfax County Circuit Court Judge Bruce D. White

The fight over the future of Charlottesville’s Confederate monuments led to the violent “Unite the Right” rally two years ago. Now, the same dispute has given rise to a First Amendment battle over a magazine article about supporters of the ...

Tagged with: Defamation First Amendment Free Speech

Actor Johnny Depp’s defamation lawsuit against Amber Heard, his ex-wife, can be tried in Fairfax County, even though neither of the parties has any personal connection to the locale, a Virginia circuit judge ruled. The star of the “Pirates of ...

Tagged with: Defamation Fairfax County Circuit Court Judge Bruce D. White

Two publications purporting to reveal widespread voter fraud have given rise to a viable lawsuit. The published materials (called Alien Invasion I and II) allegedly reported falsely that specific individuals, identified by name and other personal information, had registered and/or voted illegally in ...

Tagged with: Civil Rights Constitutional Defamation Elections Judge Liam O'Grady Personal Injury Tort U.S. District Court - Eastern District

A woman and her mother sufficiently alleged defamation by a Golden Corral server, who publicly accused them of hiding food in their purses. But the court dismissed their claim for contract interference on account of their race and also struck ...

Tagged with: Civil Procedure Civil Rights Defamation Judge Elizabeth K. Dillon Tort U.S. District Court - Western District

Based on her responsibilities as set forth in the Virginia Code, a school board’s Director of Budget & Finance was a “public official” who had to show actual malice to prove that a TV news station defamed her. She failed ...

Tagged with: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Constitutional Defamation Employment First Amendment Judge Henry F. Floyd Personal Injury Tort

Under clearly established law, publication of public safety officers’ allegedly defamatory termination letters to the media before holding a name-clearing hearing supported the officers’ claims of due process violations. Background During the summer of 2014, Officers with the Bald Head ...

Tagged with: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Constitutional Defamation Due Process First Amendment Fourteenth Amendment Judge James A. Wynn Jr. Tort

A Yelp reviewer who successfully defended against defamation claims couldn’t claim attorneys’ fees under Va. Code § 8.01-223.2 because 2017 amendments weren’t retroactive, a Virginia circuit court held. Background Defendant Jeremiah Jones retained Plaintiff Will Nesbitt Realty LLC to assist him in renting a ...

Tagged with: Attorneys Fees Business Law Civil Practice Contract Defamation Fairfax County Circuit Court Judge Randy I. Bellows Tort Virginia Circuit Courts