Defamation

Federal Appeals Court Upholds $5 Million Carroll Verdict Against Trump

| Importance: 7/10

A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit unanimously upheld the $5 million jury verdict finding Donald Trump liable for sexually abusing and defaming E. Jean Carroll, rejecting all of Trump’s arguments that trial errors warranted overturning the May 2023 verdict …

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Michael Mann Wins Defamation Lawsuit After 12-Year Battle Against Climate Deniers

| Importance: 8/10

On February 8, 2024, a jury unanimously decided in favor of climate scientist Michael Mann in his 12-year defamation battle against Rand Simberg and Mark Steyn, who had compared him to convicted child molester Jerry Sandusky in 2012 blog posts. The jury found Simberg and Steyn guilty of defamation …

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Jury Awards E. Jean Carroll $83.3 Million in Second Defamation Trial Against Trump

| Importance: 9/10

A federal jury in Manhattan awarded E. Jean Carroll $83.3 million in damages against Donald Trump for defamatory statements he made as president in June 2019 denying her sexual assault allegation and attacking her character. The nine-person jury deliberated for less than three hours before returning …

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Jury Finds Trump Liable for Sexual Abuse and Defamation of E. Jean Carroll, Awards $5 Million

| Importance: 9/10

A nine-person federal jury in Manhattan found Donald Trump liable for sexually abusing and defaming E. Jean Carroll, awarding her $5 million in damages after deliberating for less than three hours in a civil trial presided over by U.S. District Judge Lewis A. Kaplan. The verdict, reached on May 9, …

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Alex Jones Ordered to Pay $965 Million in Sandy Hook Defamation Trial

| Importance: 9/10

A Connecticut jury awarded $965 million in damages to families of Sandy Hook victims, representing the largest defamation verdict against conspiracy theorist Alex Jones. The landmark decision stemmed from Jones’ repeated false claims that the 2012 school shooting was a ‘hoax’, …

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E. Jean Carroll Publicly Accuses Trump of Sexual Assault in New York Magazine

| Importance: 8/10

E. Jean Carroll, a longtime advice columnist and author, published an excerpt from her forthcoming book in New York Magazine alleging that Donald Trump sexually assaulted her in a Bergdorf Goodman department store dressing room in either late 1995 or early 1996. Carroll, who wrote the “Ask E. …

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Climate Scientist Michael Mann Files Defamation Lawsuit Against Climate Denial Writers

| Importance: 8/10

On October 22, 2012, climate scientist Michael Mann filed a defamation lawsuit against Rand Simberg (a former scholar at the Competitive Enterprise Institute) and Mark Steyn (who wrote for National Review), after they published blog posts comparing him to Jerry Sandusky, the former Penn State …

Michael Mann Rand Simberg Mark Steyn Competitive Enterprise Institute National Review climate-denial scientist-harassment defamation legal-accountability michael-mann
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