The U.S. Supreme Court declines to hear Alan Dershowitz’s appeal of his defamation case against CNN, effectively leaving lower-court rulings in place. Dershowitz, a former Harvard law professor and lawyer, sought to revive a lawsuit that seeks about $300 million, arguing that CNN defamed him by how it characterized remarks he made while defending President Donald Trump during his first impeachment trial in 2020. Multiple reports say a federal judge dismissed the claims in 2023, finding that Dershowitz failed to produce evidence that CNN acted with “actual malice,” the standard public figures must meet to win a defamation suit under the First Amendment framework established by New York Times Co. v. Sullivan.
Several outlets also report that Justice Clarence Thomas dissented and said the court should reconsider existing press-protection legal standards for libel claims involving public figures. Fortune adds that Justices Neil Gorsuch and Thomas dissented as well, calling for revisiting the legal rules governing public-figure defamation suits. The rest of the court’s decision means the case does not move forward at the Supreme Court.
