Wednesday, February 20, 2019

McKee v. Cosby

This is the case referred to in the post below. The Supreme Court denied the writ of certiorari, meaning they decided to not hear the appeal of McKee against Cosby. I'm not aware of denials of certiorari being accompanied by opinions justifying it, but I'm not a Supreme Court lawyer.

- Click here for the 1st Circuit court decision - the one that was not challenged by the Supreme Court.

- Click here for Thomas' opinion.

- Click here for Scotusblog's summary of the case.

Here is the issue presented in it: Whether a victim of sexual misconduct who merely publicly states that she was victimized (i.e., #metoo) has thrust herself to the forefront of a public debate in an attempt to influence the outcome, thereby becoming a limited-purpose public figure who loses her right to recover for defamation absent a showing of actual malice by clear and convincing evidence.