No. 22-591

Donald V. Watkins, et al. v. Matrix, LLC, et al.

Lower Court: Alabama
Docketed: 2022-12-27
Status: Denied
Type: Paid
Response Waived
Tags: actual-malice civil-rights defamation due-process first-amendment free-speech presumed-damages public-figure summary-judgment
Key Terms:
FirstAmendment Privacy
Latest Conference: 2023-02-24
Question Presented (AI Summary)

Whether the Alabama Courts' grant and affirmance of a summary judgment for Respondents in a state law defamation case conflicts with this Court's decisions

Question Presented (OCR Extract)

QUESTIONS PRESENTED 1. Whether the Alabama Courts’ grant and affirmance of a summary judgment for Respondents in a state law defamation case conflicts with this Court’s decisions in Anderson v. Liberty Lobby Inc., 477 U.S. 242 (1986); Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317 (1986); and Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd. v. Zenith Radio Corp., 475 U.S. 574 (1986) ina case where: (a) Petitioners pleaded First Amendment constitutional defenses in their Motion to Dismiss, Answers to the Complaint, and Opposition to Summary Judgment, (b) genuine issues of material facts existed with respect to whether Petitioner Donald V. Watkins was a professional online "journalist,” within the meaning of New York Times v. Sullivan, 376 U.S. 254 (1964), and Respondents were "public figures" at the time of publication, within the meaning of Curtis Publishing Co. v. Butts, 388 U.S. 130 (1967) and Associated Press v. Walker, 388 U.S. 130 (1967), and with respect to the truth of the matters Respondents alleged to be defamatory, and (c) the Alabama Courts applied a simple "negligence" standard for determining liability on the defamation claims, rather than the "actual malice" or "reckless disregard for the truth" standard, which conflicts with this Court’s decision in Curtis Publishing Co. v. Butts and Associated Press v. Walker for "public figures"? 2. Whether the Alabama Courts’ award and affirmance of $1.5 million in "presumed damages" for Respondents in a case where (a) First i Amendment constitutional defenses were asserted, (b) the speech at issue involved matters of public concern, and (c) there was no proof of actual damages, conflict with the express prohibition against “presumed damages” in Gertz v. Robert Welch, 418 U.S. 323 (1974)?

Docket Entries

2023-02-27
Petition DENIED.
2023-02-08
DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 2/24/2023.
2023-01-25
Waiver of right of respondent Matrix, LLC, et al to respond filed.
2022-12-16
Petition for a writ of certiorari filed. (Response due January 26, 2023)

Attorneys

Donald Watkins, LLC
Byron Renard PerkinsPerkins Law, LLC, Petitioner
Byron Renard PerkinsPerkins Law, LLC, Petitioner
Matrix, LLC, et al
Cason M. KirbyCampbell Partners, LLC, Respondent
Cason M. KirbyCampbell Partners, LLC, Respondent