The New York Times lost a critical effort to block the defamation lawsuit brought by University of Alabama basketball player Kai Spears. However, the Times was able to toss out the false light claim in what could be a fascinating fight going forward.
Spears sued over the coverage of an incident on the night of January 14, 2023, when Spears and two high school friends, Dylan Serafini and Esai Morse, went to “The Strip” in Tuscaloosa, Alabama after the Alabama-LSU basketball game. They met Spears’s teammates, Brandon Miller, and the team’s student manager, Cooper Lee. Spears decided to go back to the dorm rather than stay out while Miller and Lee drove to The Strip in Miller’s car.
Later, Spears learned that there had been a shooting with bullets hitting Miller’s windshield. The Times, however, reported that surveillance video showed two people “were struck by bullets in the crossfire,” and that a “detective also made note of an unidentified passenger in Miller’s car.” A confidential source was later reported as being “familiar with the case” and told The Times that Spears was the unidentified passenger in Miller’s car.
Spears declined to make any comment at the time.
The Times ran an article “A Fourth Alabama Player Was at a Deadly Shooting, in a Car Hit by Bullets.” It alleged that “[i]n another car that was struck were Brandon Miller, a star player for the Crimson Tide, and Kai Spears, a freshman walk-on whose presence at the scene had not been previously reported.” It added that in speaking with witnesses, various students “[i]ncluding Spears, at least four Alabama players have now been placed at the scene of the shooting that took place in the early morning hours of Jan. 15….”
After the publication, representatives of The University of Alabama and affiliates of Spears told The Times that Spears was not present at the shooting.
Spears objected to Times suggesting that he was “involved” in the “fatal January shooting.” As a sports figure, such allegations can have a major impact on his future contracts both with teams and advertisers. The article also suggested that the University “kept quiet” on the players’ involvement in the shooting and placed Spears “at the scene of the shooting.” It added:
[A police detective] said that Miles had texted Miller, telling him to pick him up and that “I need my joint,” referring to Miles’ s gun, which he had left in the back seat of Miller’s car.
The detective also made note of an unidentified passenger in Miller’s car. A person familiar with the case identified that person as Spears.
On March 20, Spears’s attorney demanded a public retraction of the statements pursuant to Ala. Code § 6-5-186, which The Times declined.
We have previously discussed retraction statutes that can limit damages or actions. Here is Alabama’s Section 6-5-186
“Prerequisites to recovery of vindictive or punitive damages in action for libel.
Vindictive or punitive damages shall not be recovered in any action for libel on account of any publication unless (1) it shall be proved that the publication was made by the defendant with knowledge that the matter published was false, or with reckless disregard of whether it was false or not, and (2) it shall be proved that five days before the commencement of the action the plaintiff shall have made written demand upon the defendant for a public retraction of the charge or matter published; and the defendant shall have failed or refused to publish within five days, in as prominent and public a place or manner as the charge or matter published occupied, a full and fair retraction of such charge or matter.”
The New York Times issued a correction, but not a retraction.
Judge Scott Googler (N.D. Ala.) issued an interesting and well-considered decision. He notably dismissed the false light claim of Spears. That is notable because such claims are subject to the “actual malice” standard established in New York Times v. Sullivan. Judge Googler found that Spears had not alleged sufficient facts to meet that standard.
What is interesting is that the New York Times did not allege that Spears is a public figure … yet.
In New York Times v. Sullivan, the Supreme Court crafted the actual malice standard that required public officials to shoulder the higher burden of proving defamation. Under that standard, an official would have to show either actual knowledge of its falsity or a reckless disregard of the truth.
The standard was later extended to public figures. The Supreme Court has held that public figure status applies when someone “thrust[s] himself into the vortex of [the] public issue [and] engage[s] the public’s attention in an attempt to influence its outcome.”
A limited-purpose public figure status applies if someone voluntarily “draw[s] attention to himself” or allows himself to become part of a controversy “as a fulcrum to create public discussion.” Wolston v. Reader’s Digest Association, 443 U.S. 157, 168 (1979).
Spears has given public statements and is a sports sensation. There is a basis to claim that he is a public figure to force him to show that the Times either knew the falsity of the account or showed reckless disregard of the truth.
That means that this fight will likely happen again, but in the meantime, the case is going forward on the main defamation claim.
My wife and I are getting a ‘fitting’ for Kevlar very soon — calendar years 2024 and 2025 are going to be turbulent.
It’s a sad day in America when prestigious Presstitutes like the NYT have to actually be held accountable in certain ways. This is a shameless attack not only on the NYT, but on the entire Presstitution Industry.
Well lookie there, more voter fraud.
https://www.villages-news.com/2023/12/05/trumper-shocked-when-jury-finds-him-guilty-of-vote-fraud/
I tell you trump is prescient. He predicted voter fraud and it is popping up all over the place. But wait, How come they are all republican trump supporters that are being charged and convicted of voter fraud?
I have no problems convicting anyone who signed a mailin ballot for someone else. And if that had been done for the 2020 election thousands of democrats would still be in jail.
In 38 states in this country mailin voting violates those states constitution.
Pretty much every state has laws that bar the presence of others in a voting booth. Vote by Mail makes the voting booth home.
The case you cite is pretty typical of individual voter fraud – in 2020 and other times – with one exception – DA’s accross the country were told by their bar associations that if they tried to bring cases like that against democrats – they would likely be disbarred.
All you have done is provide even MORE evidence that democrats weaponize law enforcement.
In the random signature audit in Cobb county GA after the 2020 election – 6% of signatures were found not to meet the states standard in the law – which is a very low standard. 0.6% were refered to GBI as likely fraudulent. There were no prosecutions.
I have zero problems with enforcing voting laws. I fully expect that doing so will catch some republicans.
I am OK if it catches mostly Republicans – but only brain dead people expect that.
While there is an argument that republicans are more moral – and evidence to support that.
A substantially more important factor is demographics. Fraud is most likely in denser populations. That has been historically true for all US history. I doubt there is any fraud at all in my precinct. There are only about 20,000 people in my precinct, and less than half of those are both eligable to vote and vote. The election officials KNOW most every voter. While I present ID at each election – it is not necescary – because the election officials know exactly who I am. After I fill in my Ballot, I go over to a scanner, where I personally put the ballot into the scanner, and it is counted and fed into a sealed ballot box. There are no counting rooms where hired staff counts millions of ballots. There are no lines to the precinct with thousands of people in line and hundreds of thousands of votes being case.
The more people you put in one place the easier large scale fraud is. The more important adhering to the laws is.
The Constitution requires identification and certification and a PLACE and a TIME; the Post Office is neither.
Mail-in is unconstitutional, aside from utterly inane and inviting corruption.
The constitution requires none of those things.
Especially in presidential elections, about which the constitution has not one word to say. The constitution doesn’t even require that presidential elections be held in the first place, let alone regulate how they must be held.
Back in 1960 when Kennedy beat Nixon. Some people asked senator Everet Dirksen why republicans didn’t complain about dead people in Chicago voting for Kennedy. Dirksen replied, that’s because dead people in southern Illinois voted for Nixon. Independent Bob.
Bob, dropping his daily steaming pile of dung.
At least I don’t call myself anonymous. You know it’s me who posted this. You act like an antifa member wearing a face mask so no one kniws who you are. Independent Bob.
Because the justice system is all communist.
The students on campus who are calling for the killing of all Jews (genocide) will be voting for Democrats next year. Raise your hand if you stand with them. Their born and raised by leftist Professors who’ve taught them all about colonialism. I say to you again. Raise your hand if your with them.
Estovir/ Thinkthrough:
Last week as Shakdi, you were using the word ‘Jew’ as an ethnic slur. Now here you are as Thinkthrough pretending to care about anti-semitism. What a phony!!
It’s THEY’RE born and raised..not “their”.
It’s “..if YOU’RE with them”…not “your”.
Drop the possessive usage here. You need some remedial grammar, Thinkitthrough.
All roads lead to Barack Obama
“State-sponsored blacklisting, which is illegal.”
– YouTube Video
___________________
Obama is illegal.
Obama will never be a “natural born citizen” with two citizen-parents and a father who was a citizen at the time of the candidate’s birth.
Obama will never be eligible for the office of U.S. president.
Understanding that Obama was illicit and unconstitutional as president, everything Obama did and continues to do is illicit and unconstitutional, by extension, including, but not limited to, his ongoing Obama Coup D’etat in America.
The American Founders and Framers wrote the constitutional “natural born citizen” requirement to address Barack Hussein “Barry Soetoro” Obama, son of a foreign citizen with foreign allegiances.
OT
HOW DO ACTUAL AMERICANS OBTAIN “ASYLUM” FROM THE ILLEGAL ALIEN FOREIGN INVASION AND THE WIDE-OPEN U.S. “OBAMA” BORDER?
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
“Oh, what a tangled web we weave, when first we practice to deceive!”
– “Marmion,” Sir Walter Scott
________________________________
President Barack “Joe Biden” Obama’s nearly complete, illegal alien, foreign invasion and conquest of America began with “Crazy Abe” Lincoln’s original “tangled web” of illegal alien invasion, which was illicitly and unconstitutionally commenced on January 1, 1863, in the name of Karl Marx and his incoherent communist social engineering.
“Crazy Abe” left an inimical, foreign, four-million-man, standing army on U.S. soil.
See that army now in the activist, extremist, anti-constitutional, affirmative action, fire-alarm-pulling-“squad” Congress, local governments, the unconstitutional “administrative state,” public schools, feminazi teacher unions, Harvard, UPenn, the DEI “military” et al.
“Look What Happened While You Were Sleeping”
____________________________________________________
“[We gave you] a [restricted-vote] republic, if you can keep it.”
– Ben Franklin
Jonathan: I was out of town for 2 days so I missed some of your earlier columns. I’m trying to catch up. The one “Will the Real Hunter Biden Now Step Forward” (12/5) caught my eye. The one where you make personal attacks on Hunter–calling him a “black-out-junkie”, “blacked out between trysts with high-priced prostitutes”…. something you would see in the NY Post tabloid–not in a column by a constitutional scholar and law professor. Oh well, when it comes to Hunter his personal life is fair game for even you.
That said, you apparently missed Chair Comer’s Monday news conference in which he released some of Hunter’s bank records where he made 3 payments of $1,380 each to his dad in 2018 when Joe Biden was a private citizen. Comer claimed those payments “are now part of a pattern revealing Joe Biden knew about, participated in and benefited from his family’s influence peddling schemes”. As it turns out those reimbursement payments were for a truck Joe Biden bought for his son when Hunter was financially strapped.
What is curious is that Comer’s has had Hunter Biden’s financial records for over a year. They were on the laptop. So why does Comer suddenly release the records on Hunter’s reimbursements? It’s because Comer is desperate because he has yet to find any evidence of “high crimes and misdemeanors” by Joe Biden. So he trots out the bank records and distorts the reason for the payments. Reimbursements for a truck purchase don’t qualify as “high crimes and misdemeanors”?
The big Q is why you continue to participate in Comer’s fishing expedition that is doomed to fail?
No the question is, kunt, if its doomed to fail, why do you care?
Dennis McIntyre says:
“Jonathan: I was out of town for 2 days”
____________________________________________
Dang! For a moment there, I thought DM, the ObamaBot, was going to say, “I was out of my mind for 2 days.” I mean that is more to the case and the point, wouldn’t you say?
“As it turns out those reimbursement payments were for a truck Joe Biden bought for his son when Hunter was financially strapped.”
So you say. Does $4k buy a Ford F150 Raptor in your neck of the woods, Dennis?
Financially strapped my ass. Hunter Biden had an estimated net worth of $10M in 2018. But he needed to borrow a down payment from daddy? Get a grip.
I guess that constitutes “financially strapped” in Biden world, since Hunter is now worth north of $250M, and couldn’t pay his child support.
Why is it that you slimeballs have absolutely ZERO intellectual curiosity when it comes to Joe and Hunter?
Jimmy,
It is the cult like thinking of the leftists.
They deny, obfuscate, change the subject, or outright lie to defend the indefensible.
All they need are little Red books with Biden’s picture on it and chant Biden mumblings over and over again, and “From river to sea . . . “
After reading the article, my question is: will Venezuela invade Guyana? They seem to be preparing to, which would set off a Western Hemisphere hotspot in the runup to WW3.
Used to really, really enjoy the Sunday edition of this paper, now I would not wipe my behind with it. I do not know how they have not gone bankrupt with whatever they consider to be reporting or culture these days. Our media are Pravda, pure and simple, and they serve the leftist regime, pure and simple. This was all clear within the blogosphere ages ago, and indeed many of those blogging people were hired by traditional outlets, and nobody cared. Now here we are. We are paying the price for being selfish and asleep over and over again, but none more so than those on the left, even the mature among them seem to be unable to be adults. I do not know what any of these people were thinking. Drank the Obama Kool-Aid, I guess.
I voted for Obama the first time, guess I was an idiot, too. ‘Transformation’, indeed. anyway, the NYT can bite me. They are worse than hearsay at this point. Stopped reading them years ago, and will never support them again. Ditto for The New Yorker, New York Magazine, The Atlantic, Wikipedia, the Internet Archive, . Again, bite me, you mushroom headed, privileged, little fascists. At some point they may listen to those of us that used to respect and support them, but I’d be surprised. Who needs legitimate support when the likes of Soros and Tim Cook generate billions?
After all is said and done, even if people eventually get fair trials, their name shave been sullied forever by these troglodytes, and that can ruin lives. Disgusting. Those on the left who are ‘awake’, stop pretending voting for a different candidate within the party will change anything whatsoever. The dems are no longer viable as an option, period, and I will never vote for a dem again. I want to see the party dismantled and shamed for how they and their progeny have dragged us through the mud. Take your dollars and stick them where the sun don’t shine, aristocrats.
James,
When my parents come to visit, on Sundays, dad will take the truck and drive down to get the Sunday edition. It was not until then did I realize what kind of crap paper it had become. Most of it read like bad fan-fiction of how great Biden was, or what a threat Trump was. Even my Democrat sister said it was no better than a tabloid. She quit reading it, but still has subscriptions to WaPo, which she is now considering ending, and WSJ. I have turned her on to The Free Press when The Free Press gave paid subscribers, such as I, two four month limited free subscriptions to The Free Press. She has been very impressed with The Free Press.
So, there is hope among the normal, sane Democrats to see past the propaganda of MSM, academia and the deep state.
Speaking of The Free Press, here is a snippet from today’s article, Biden’s “grim” numbers, “Veteran Democratic pollsters Stan Greenberg and James Carville recently conducted a survey of 2,500 voters in battleground states and competitive districts. “This is grim,” said Greenberg in a message to New York Times columnist Thomas Edsall. His most shocking finding was that “collectively, voters in the Democratic base of ‘Blacks, Hispanics, Asians, LGBTQ+ community, Gen Z, millennials, unmarried and college women give Trump higher approval ratings than Biden.’ ” You don’t need to be a veteran Democratic pollster to know that this is bad. Very, very bad.”
How marvelous!
James,
I would only add, that long time Democrats need to purge the insane and stupid woke leftists from their party, declare them a rogue faction of fascists who eschew democracy, the Constitution, decency, morality, logic and common sense.
These woke leftists are the antithesis of America. They should be looked down upon as the vermin they are. And that has nothing to do with Trump. Anyone with any degree of decency, morality, logic and common sense can see it.
Dennis McInlyre is a kunt and a pedophile. But he is a good little employee for his mentor Soros.
Darren Smith, BAN FOR LIFE for flagrant and egregious impertinence.
Darren Smith doesn’t live here anymore, you sniveling little kunt.
BAN FOR LIFE
Darren Smith, what in the world are you waiting for?
Theirs is not “free speech,” theirs is free anarchy with a heavy dose of egregious impertinence.
The anarchist/communists/Obamaites intend to destroy this country and obtain “order out of chaos” just as they intend to destroy this website and obtain “order out of chaos.”
What they desire is the “order” of communism out of the chaos they create.
Jonathan: The Kai Spears defamation lawsuit against the NY times is small potatoes compared to other defamation suits playing out in the courts.
You seem to have forgotten about your employer’s settlement with Dominion for $787.5 million after Fox defamed the voting system about the 2020 election. It’s pretty clear the Fox corp. was forced to settle because it’s hosts were engaged in intentionally defaming Dominion. A similar defamation by Smartmatic is now headed to trial next year. They want $1.6 billion in damages. Smartmatic is also suing Mike Lindell and My Pillow and Newsmax–as is Dominion.
Now it would seem these defamation lawsuits are the ones to watch. As a Fox contributor I can understand why you would want to deflect by talking about the Spears case. You seem to have insomnia when it comes to defamation lawsuits against the corporation that provides you with a paycheck.
“You seem to have insomnia when it comes to defamation lawsuits against the corporation that provides you with a paycheck.”
I believe you meant amnesia, dimwit. I doubt Jonathan is losing sleep over it.
LMAO at Dennis and his stupid little rants. I believe he has tourette’s.
Jimmy: Yes, I meant to use the word “amnesia”. Thanks for the correction. But you got the point. You have fallen into a bad habit–calling my comments “stupid little rants”. Care to make an actual intelligent comment on why Turley decided to address the Spears defamation case while ignoring all the important defamation cases against his employer–Fox? No, I guess that would be expecting too much.
I’ll take a stab Dennis. Because he doesn’t work for you. He chooses his topics according to his preferences, not yours. Call it “working for Fox”, call it “pandering to his MAGA readers”, call it whatever you like. When you get your own blog site, feel free to choose the topics. So, stick to the topic and try someway, somehow to make your own intelligent comments (i wont relive all the unintelligent ones you’ve made, like “AR-15s ruin the meat”).
Alternatively, you can continue to post your stupid little rants and be called out for it.
You’re welcome.
Jimmy,
Strange is it not?
Dennis wants or even demands the good professor to write about topics Dennis wants and then cries when the good professor does not.
The good professor is not against the Democrat party for the most part. The good professor is against the corruption, the insane and stupid woke leftists that have highjacked the once sane and normal Democrat party. The good professor is not the only one pointing this out. Long time liberal Democrats like Bill Maher, Elon Musk, James Carville, heck, even my own Democrat sister sees it. So much so she has written to both the DNC and the Biden campaign if they do not pull their heads out of their posterior end, she will vote either Republican or third party like RFK Jr.
Can anyone, be it Republican, sane Democrat or Independent blame her or them?
Upstate
It’s that, but not exclusively. Moreover, he insists that we all engage on his stupid little rants, and has more than once tried to accuse a commenter of straying from the issue if they refuse to speak to his.
I’ve only met one narcissist of Denny’s level in real life. He was the Captain of my last submarine, the USS Chicago. His name was Steven Johnson. This guy was LCDR Queeg (The Caine Mutiny) incarnate. I could go on all day about him, but here is one small glimpse.
In his change of command ceremony speech, he explained to his new crew that he was the Bronze God, of King Nebuchadnezzar’s dream (incorrect detail, but i digress) and the crew were his feet of clay. If he succeeded, it would mean succession to a higher calling, and if he failed, it would be because of his feet of clay. I served under him for 2 VERY long years, and he singlehandedly ruined my experience in the Navy, which otherwise was a very rewarding and successful one.
In his written correspondence, he communicated EXACTLY like Dennis, using the same style and even some of the same phrasing. Smug, condescending, unable to admit fault or mistake, fake know-it-all, and above all a narcissistic prick.
Jimmy,
Sounded like he needed to be 86ed. 😉
Yep, careerist officers who stand upon their other officers and enlisted shoulders for their success all the while ignoring them but at the ready to blame them for their own faults.
Dennis reeks of them. Those are the kind who bring down a society.
Can you believe that Dennis McIntyre said that he’s not one to change the subject. Different day same you know what.
Yep, he’s a lying little kunt.
Jonathan: The Kai Spears defamation lawsuit against the NY times is small potatoes compared to
other defamation suits playing out in the courts.the number of little boys I have enticed into my basement with the promise of “popshicles”.Fixed that for you, pedophile.
Right on topic, as always!
Sullivan needs re-worked
In this case the NYT sensationalizes a story, for clicks(ad revenue) with no risk, using fabricated sources to get just the narrative they needed to sell the clicks. The govt in this case (college and police) are responding to their personal incentives to cover up what ever they believe needs covered up. That leaves the student, the weakest of all the parties to take huge hit on her reputation. That’s a big deal in the new world of NIL payouts.
I know it is a different jurisdiction, but it is a long way from fair, for the govt to attack a private citizen Trump, and fine him huge sums and take away his right to do business, when there in no victim, and this poor victim is standing naked in front of the govt, with zero protection.
Sacrificing citizens so the govt can save face, is upside down. It goes back to Royalty and something the founders worked hard to curb.
“Sullivan needs re-worked.”
– iowan2
___________
Lincoln’s wholly unconstitutional denial of not prohibited and fully constitutional secession similarly needs re-work, including every subsequent act and effect, including, but not limited to, the unconstitutional and improperly ratified “Reconstruction Amendments” of Karl Marx infamy.
To wit,
“They consider…that it fell to…Abraham Lincoln…to lead his country through…the RECONSTRUCTION of a social world.”
– Karl Marx to Abraham Lincoln, Letter, 1865
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The Supreme Court acted 50 years retroactively to correct the corrupt Supreme Court of 1973 regarding abortion, which was evidently never a constitutional right but a matter to be legislated by States.
The Supreme Court must now act 150 years retroactively to correct the illicit and deleterious acts of Lincoln subsequent to his egregious, unconstitutional act of denying not prohibited and fully constitutional secession.
The America of its Founders must be restored to its Constitution and fundamental law.
American freedom was abruptly terminated by Abraham Lincoln after a mere 71 years, understanding that reprehensible slavery must have been abrogated by legal means and the long-suffering African abductees compassionately repatriated or humanely returned home, as are all such victims, no matter the cost.
There’s a Judge with the last name of Googler?! Lol
I’d like to put it on the record, first thing this morning, that:
The green anonymous poster, known as Elvis Bug (that is, when he isn’t denying his comments like a little kunt), is a booger eating pedophile with a strong affinity for licking little boys scrotums. He has daily (sometimes hourly) paranoid delusions that everyone posting on this site is the same person. He sits in his mom’s basement, in his pajamas, laughing out loud about the steaming piles of sh!t that he litters the comment section with every day. He’ll be along shortly to drop the turd “no, he isn’t”.
Carry on.
I can see Mr. Spears point easily enough. Sports figures are held to higher standards and leagues take a dim view of any sort of illicit activity rather real or perceived. False claims can destroy any chance for financial gain in the world of professional and now college sports. Especially with the tendency of leagues to suspend players from playing when even frivolous charges are filed or spurious and somewhat suspect accusations are made. We have seen punters who had significant chances of getting a high draft choice in the NFL get entirely passed over because of an unproven charge that was eventually dismissed or proved false. There have been more than one case of alleged sexual improprieties proved false or dismissed, These events seem to cluster right around draft time either just before or just after a draft when a lot of talk about lucrative contracts are tossed about. I think it’s time some of the sources are tracked down, as well as the media, and sued.
Maybe someday “news” reporters will learn to be cautious with anonymous sources. How much nonsense attributed to anonymous sources needs to be false, before these m*r*ns learn.
Most journalism degrees do not require math or science electives, 2 out of 5 journalists I know chose the degree for this reason.
Logic is not a strength of theirs, but skepticism should be at this point.
Let us hope that the Times loses this case and thus initiating a forced return to their motto of “All the News That’s Fit to Print” as opposed to ‘All the Agendas We Want to Push’.
Judge Googler found that Spears had not alleged sufficient facts to meet [the actual malice] standard.
So then the retraction statute is irrelevant, right? Under the statute as you quoted it, prong (1) makes actual malice a prerequisite to punitive damages. Now that the judge has made that ruling, only compensatory damages are in play.
My hunch is that this lawsuit isn’t really about the damages anyway, but about publicly clearing Spears’s name.
Hello Mr. Tourley,
you write interesting articles, please also join Touchie.world.
The newjerk times, formerly known as a great newspaper, has swallowed the red-blood-pill. “If it bleeds, it leads.” Make a sensational headline, and let the fact checkers do the work of verifying the story.