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John Tatum, et ux. v. The Dallas Morning News, Inc., et al.

Paid petition · Supreme Court of Texas, No. 16-0098 · judgment May 11, 2018

Certiorari denied · February 19, 2019
Pre-decision estimate: 1% cert probability

Before the decision, well below the 4.1% base rate, with no standout signals pointing toward a grant.

Question presented

Whether this Court’s decisions in Milkovich v. Lorain Journal Co. and Omnicare, Inc. v. Laborers Dist. Council Const. Industry Pension Fund hold that an otherwise verifiable accusation of dishonesty should be considered Constitutionally protected opinion under the First Amendment because such accusation is made within the framework of an opinion piece.

Counsel of record

For petitioner
Joseph David Sibley IV
Camara & Sibley, LLP

For respondent
Paul Christopher Watler
Jackson Walker LLP

Case

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

Conference history
Distributed for 1 conference

Order
Order list, February 19, 2019 · Certiorari denied

Proceedings

  1. Feb 19 2019
    Petition DENIED.
  2. Jan 23 2019
    DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 2/15/2019.
  3. Jan 11 2019
    Waiver of right of respondents The Dallas Morning News, Inc., et al. to respond filed.
  4. Dec 27 2018
    Petition for a writ of certiorari filed. (Response due February 6, 2019)