Litigation of counsel Martin Flumenbaum and partner Brad Karp’s latest Second Circuit review column, “The Satanic Temple and the Anti-SLAPP Statute,” was published in the June 24 issue of the New York Law Journal. The authors discuss a recent decision in which the court unanimously affirmed both the lower court’s dismissal of a defendant journalist for personal jurisdiction and its grant of summary judgment.
In the underlying action, The Satanic Temple, a nationwide, nontheistic religious organization, sued Newsweek Digital, a New York-based LLC, and Julia Duin, a longtime religion reporter for Newsweek who lives and works in Washington state. The Satanic Temple sued in the Southern District of New York for defamation over a 2021 article, which included allegations that the organization used defamation lawsuits to silence internal critics and covered up accusations of sexual misconduct. The court dismissed Duin for lack of personal jurisdiction and dismissed all but one allegedly defamatory statement relating to the cover-up claim. The court concluded that New York’s anti-SLAPP statute, mandating a heightened fault standard in defamation claims involving public petition and participation, applied to the cover-up allegation.
The Second Circuit affirmed, confirming that New York may provide broader protection for public-interest speech than the First Amendment requires, even in federal diversity cases and where the plaintiff’s public-figure status is unresolved. It also makes clear that an out-of-state journalist is not subject to suit in New York merely because she published through a New York-based media outlet.
Litigation associate Michael Pisem assisted in the preparation of this column.
» read the article
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