I was at a Kiwanis club meeting the other day and the topic of Tiger Woods came up. Someone mentioned that Tiger was in deep trouble (an obvious observation) and began to rattle off the names of each of Tiger's mistresses and then there was some generally commentary about Tiger's "transgressions." All in good taste, of course. What struck me about this conversation … [Read more...] about Celebrity Defamation: Part II
public interest
Hailstone v. Martinez: What Exactly Is A Matter of Public Interest?
California legislators passed a law in 1991 known as the "anti-SLAPP" statute to dispose of lawsuits at an early state of litigation that are primarily aimed at chilling speech. An issue that frequently arises is whether the alleged defamatory statement(s) is a matter of public interest. If so, the first prong of the statute is satisfied, and the burden … [Read more...] about Hailstone v. Martinez: What Exactly Is A Matter of Public Interest?