Supreme Court of the United States · Official docket →
Don Blankenship v. NBCUniversal, LLC, et al.
Paid petition · United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, No. 22-1198, 22-1207, 22-1326 · judgment February 22, 2023
Before the decision, well below the 4.1% base rate, with no standout signals pointing toward a grant.
Question presented
The questions presented are: (1) whether the actual malice standard imposed on public figure plaintiffs in defamation cases should be replaced; and (2) whether the framework for summary judgment in public figure defamation cases should be reformed.
Counsel of record
For petitioner
Eric Peter Early
Early Sullivan Wright Gizer & McRae LLP
For respondent
Kevin Taylor Baine
Williams & Connolly LLP
Case
Conference history
Distributed for 3 conferences
Amicus briefs
1 cert-stage
Argument & decision
Decided October 10, 2023.
Proceedings
- Oct 10 2023Petition DENIED. Justice Thomas, concurring in the denial of certiorari. (Detached Opinion)
- Oct 02 2023DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 10/6/2023.
- Sep 06 2023DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 9/26/2023.
- Sep 01 2023Reply of petitioner Don Blankenship filed. (Distributed)
- Aug 21 2023Brief of respondents NBCUniversal, LLC, et al. in opposition filed.
- Jul 20 2023Motion to extend the time to file a response is granted and the time is extended to and including August 23, 2023, for all respondents.
- Jul 19 2023Motion to extend the time to file a response from August 10, 2023 to August 23, 2023, submitted to The Clerk.
- Jul 11 2023Response Requested. (Due August 10, 2023)
- Jul 05 2023DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 9/26/2023.
- Jun 20 2023Brief amici curiae of Free Speech Coalition, et al. filed.
- Jun 13 2023Waiver of right of respondent Boston Globe Media Partners LLC to respond filed.
- Jun 13 2023Waiver of right of respondents NBCUniversal, LLC; CNBC, LLC; Fox News Network, LLC; Cable News Network, Inc., et al. to respond filed.
- May 15 2023Petition for a writ of certiorari filed. (Response due June 20, 2023)