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Nicholas Sandmann v. New York Times Company, et al.

Paid petition · United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, No. 22-5734, 22-5735, 22-5736, 22-5737, 22-5738 · judgment August 16, 2023


Certiorari denied · March 25, 2024
Pre-decision estimate: 2% cert probability

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

Questions presented

  1. Do statements conveying observed sensory impressions in factual, descriptive terms constitute protected “opinion” under the First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States?

  2. Did the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit effectively eliminate the distinction between fact and opinion articulated in Milkovich v. Lorain Journal Company, 497 U.S. 1 (1990)?

Counsel of record

For petitioner
Todd Vanderveer McMurtry
Hemmer Wessels McMurtry PLLC

For respondent
Michael Patrick Abate
Kaplan Johnson Abate & Bird LLP

Case

Conference history
Distributed for 1 conference

Proceedings

  1. Mar 25 2024
    Petition DENIED.
  2. Mar 06 2024
    DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 3/22/2024.
  3. Feb 21 2024
    Waiver of right of respondents ABC News, Inc.; ABC News Interactive, Inc., The Walt Disney Company to respond filed.
  4. Feb 21 2024
    Waiver of right of respondent New York Times Company to respond filed.
  5. Feb 21 2024
    Waiver of right of respondents Gannett Co., Inc. and Gannett Sattelite Information Network, LLC to respond filed.
  6. Feb 21 2024
    Waiver of right of respondents CBS News Inc., ViacomCBS Inc. (n/k/a Paramount Global), and CBS Interactive Inc. to respond filed.
  7. Feb 21 2024
    Waiver of right of respondent Rolling Stone, LLC and Penske Media Corporation to respond filed.
  8. Jan 26 2024
    Petition for a writ of certiorari filed. (Response due February 29, 2024)