Clay Calvert, director of the Marion B. Brechner First Amendment Project and Brechner Eminent Scholar in Mass Communication at the University of Florida College of Journalism and Communications, is quoted in “Sarah Palin’s Battle Against Press Freedom Faces Rocky Road to Supreme Court” published on Huffington Post on March 2.

The article focuses on Palin’s appeal of her defamation case against The New York Times and her quest to try to topple a foundation of press freedom. The verdict of the case was overshadowed by U.S. District Judge Jed S. Rakoff’s decision to toss the case if the jury did not decide in the newspaper’s favor.

According to Calvert, an appellate court would rely heavily on Rakoff’s lengthy opinion to determine whether his judgment was flawed. “I don’t think the odds are very good that the Second Circuit will reverse the decision,” he said.

Calvert said he doubted that the Supreme Court had the appetite for it, although he speculated that might have been the ultimate aim of Palin’s case.

“Even if the court scrapped actual malice as to public figures, states could still adopt their own standards,” he said. “What the Supreme Court is doing … it’s just setting the First Amendment minimum or floor.”

Posted: March 2, 2022
Category: College News, Marion B. Brechner First Amendment Project News
Tagged as: Clay Calvert, Marion B. Brechner First Amendment Project