By David Thomas
WASHINGTON, June 29 (Reuters) - The U.S. Supreme Court declined on Monday to hear prominent lawyer Alan Dershowitz's bid to revive his defamation lawsuit against CNN over the network's coverage of his remarks defending Donald Trump during the president's first Senate impeachment trial in 2020.
The justices turned away the retired Harvard Law professor's appeal of a lower court's ruling throwing out his case against CNN, which is owned by Warner Bros Discovery. In his appeal, Dershowitz had urged the justices to roll back protections against defamation claims that the Supreme Court established in its landmark 1964 ruling in a case called New York Times v. Sullivan.
In Sullivan and subsequent decisions, the Supreme Court said that to win a libel suit, a public figure must demonstrate the offending statement was made with "actual malice," meaning with knowledge that it was false or with reckless disregard as to whether it was false.
Dershowitz in his petition argued that Sullivan has become "an impregnable fortress that protects media irresponsibility while denying public figures any remedy for egregious misrepresentations."
WASHINGTON, June 29 (Reuters) - The U.S. Supreme Court declined on Monday to hear prominent lawyer Alan Dershowitz's bid to revive his defamation lawsuit against CNN over the network's coverage of his remarks defending Donald Trump during the president's first Senate impeachment trial in 2020.
The justices turned away the retired Harvard Law professor's appeal of a lower court's ruling throwing out his case against CNN, which is owned by Warner Bros Discovery. In his appeal, Dershowitz had urged the justices to roll back protections against defamation claims that the Supreme Court established in its landmark 1964 ruling in a case called New York Times v. Sullivan.
In Sullivan and subsequent decisions, the Supreme Court said that to win a libel suit, a public figure must demonstrate the offending statement was made with "actual malice," meaning with knowledge that it was false or with reckless disregard as to whether it was false.
Dershowitz in his petition argued that Sullivan has become "an impregnable fortress that protects media irresponsibility while denying public figures any remedy for egregious misrepresentations."
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