UVA associate dean Nicole Eramo sues Rolling Stone: an early analysis

Washington Post ^ | May 12 at 7:42 PM | Eugene Volokh

[OK Sun]

UVA associate dean Nicole Eramo is suing Rolling Stone and writer Sabrina Rubin Erdely for statements in Rolling Stone’s now-retracted “A Rape on Campus” story. How will courts likely deal with this lawsuit? Here are a few early and tentative thoughts, though of course much depends on facts that are not yet known.

1. Federal vs. state court: Eramo sued in Virginia state court, but it seems likely that Rolling Stone and Erdely will want the case removed to federal court: The conventional wisdom is that libel defendants are procedurally better off in federal court, where it’s easier to get cases dismissed or narrowed before trial. (The substantive rules would be the same in federal court as in state court.) And if defendants want the case removed to federal court, they’ll be able to make that happen — the defendants aren’t Virginia citizens, and the lawsuit is over $75,000, which is the threshold for federal jurisdiction in such situations.

2. Is Eramo a “public official”? When a libel case involves (as this one does) a matter of public concern, a court must decide whether the plaintiff is (1) a public official or public figure, or (2) a private figure.

To win a libel case, public officials or public figures must show that the defendants acted with “actual malice,” a confusing term that means “knowledge that the statement was false, or knowledge that it was likely false coupled with a conscious disregard of that risk.” What’s more, the public officials or public figures must show actual malice by “clear and convincing evidence.” Private figures can get proven compensatory damages (including emotional distress damages stemming from harm to reputation) based on a showing of mere negligence on the defendant’s part, though they still need to show actual malice to get presumed ...

[OK Sun]

Analysis of the lawsuit at The Volokh Conspiracy.

[Old Sarge]

Rolling Stone needs to stay in their own lane and just report on the antics of celebutards.

The Enquirer is better at reporting than these smartass hipsters.

[PGalt]

Now you don’t talk so loud
Now you don’t seem so proud
About having to be scrounging for your next meal.

How does it feel?
How does it feel
To be without a home
Like a complete unknown
Like a rolling stone ?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=syNLBJ_Lq9E

DEFUND agenda-driven, propagandist rags.

[fungoking]

Eramo, who is the university’s chief administrator dealing with sexual assaults, argues in the lawsuit that the article destroyed her credibility, permanently damaged her reputation and caused her emotional distress....

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Doesn't that describe the day to day workings of every university's office of the asst dean in charge of sexual assaults as it pertains to the accused males?