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National Review, Inc. v. Michael E. Mann

Paid petition · District of Columbia Court of Appeals, No. 14-CV-126 · judgment December 13, 2018

Certiorari denied · November 25, 2019
Pre-decision estimate: 3% cert probability

Before the decision, well below the 4.1% base rate: the model weighted this down for no court below (an original writ).

Questions presented

Under Philadelphia Newspapers, Inc. v. Hepps, 475 U.S. 767 (1986), and Milkovich v. Lorain Journal Co., 497 U.S. 1 (1990), a plaintiff seeking to impose defamation liability for a statement on a matter of public concern must prove that the statement is false, and thus cannot sue unless the statement contains a “provably false” factual connotation. The questions presented in this case are:

  1. Is the question whether a statement contains a “provably false” factual connotation a question of law for the court (as most federal circuit courts hold), or is that a question of fact for the jury when the statement is ambiguous (as many state high courts hold)?

  2. Does the First Amendment permit defamation liability for expressing a subjective opinion about a matter of scientific or political controversy, such as characterizing a statistical model about climate change as “deceptive” and calling its creation a form of “scientific misconduct”?

Counsel of record

For petitioner
Michael A. Carvin
Jones Day

For respondent
John B. Williams
Williams Lopatto PLLC

Case

Subject area
First Amendment (estimated from the questions presented, in the Supreme Court Database’s categories)

Conference history
Distributed for 8 conferences

Amicus briefs
8 cert-stage

Related
Vide, 18-1477

Argument & decision

Decided November 25, 2019.

Proceedings

  1. Nov 25 2019
    Motion for leave to file amicus brief filed by Southeastern Legal Foundation GRANTED.
  2. Nov 25 2019
    Petition DENIED. Justice Alito, dissenting from the denial of certiorari. (Detached Opinion)
  3. Nov 18 2019
    DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 11/22/2019.
  4. Nov 12 2019
    DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 11/15/2019.
  5. Nov 04 2019
    DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 11/8/2019.
  6. Oct 28 2019
    DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 11/1/2019.
  7. Oct 28 2019
    Rescheduled.
  8. Oct 17 2019
    Rescheduled.
  9. Oct 15 2019
    DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 10/18/2019.
  10. Oct 08 2019
    Rescheduled.
  11. Oct 07 2019
    DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 10/11/2019.
  12. Sep 26 2019
    Rescheduled.
  13. Jul 17 2019
    DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 10/1/2019.
  14. Jul 16 2019
    Reply of petitioner National Review, Inc. filed.
  15. Jul 05 2019
    Brief amici curiae of Former United States Attorneys General filed. VIDED.
  16. Jul 05 2019
    Brief amicus curiae of Stephen McIntyre filed. VIDED.
  17. Jul 05 2019
    Brief amici curiae of Cato Institute, et al. filed. VIDED.
  18. Jul 03 2019
    Brief amicus curiae of American Center for Law and Justice filed. VIDED.
  19. Jul 03 2019
    Brief amici curiae of 21 U.S. Senators filed.
  20. Jul 02 2019
    Brief amicus curiae of Dr. Judith A. Curry filed. VIDED.
  21. Jun 28 2019
    Brief of respondent Michael E. Mann in opposition filed. VIDED.
  22. Jun 21 2019
    Certificate of Word Compliance filed with respect to brief of amicus curiae brief of Judicial Watch.
  23. Jun 21 2019
    Affidavit of Service filed with respect to brief of amicus curiae of Judicial Watch.
  24. Jun 20 2019
    Brief amicus curiae of Mark Steyn filed. VIDED.
  25. Jun 20 2019
    Brief amicus curiae of Judicial Watch, Inc. filed.
  26. Jun 12 2019
    Motion for leave to file amicus brief filed by Southeastern Legal Foundation.
  27. Jun 05 2019
    Response Requested. (Due July 5, 2019)
  28. Jun 04 2019
    DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 6/20/2019.
  29. May 28 2019
    Waiver of right of respondent Michael E. Mann to respond filed.
  30. May 21 2019
    Petition for a writ of certiorari filed. (Response due June 20, 2019)