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Clinic Wins Dismissal of Libel Suit Against Rutgers University Professor

WASHINGTON, D.C. – A federal judge yesterday dismissed in full a defamation and conspiracy lawsuit the Hindu American Foundation (“HAF”) brought last year against Rutgers University Associate Professor and human rights activist Audrey Truschke and four other activists.  The Cornell Law School First Amendment Clinic and co-counsel Davis Wright Tremaine LLP represented Dr. Truschke in this matter.

HAF’s claims against Dr. Truschke centered around several April 2021 Twitter posts in which she criticized HAF and Hindu nationalist ideology.  Among these tweets, Dr. Truschke reposted two articles from Al Jazeera Media Network’s AlJazeera.com concerning the awarding of federal COVID relief funds to organizations including HAF, which the articles characterized as “Hindu right-wing groups.”  HAF subsequently brought claims for defamation and civil conspiracy against Dr. Truschke and four other individuals quoted in the Al Jazeera articles.

In late 2021, Professor Truschke filed a motion to dismiss HAF’s suit, arguing that HAF fails to state a claim against Professor Truschke, and that Professor Truschke is not subject to personal jurisdiction in the District of Columbia.  The other defendants also filed motions to dismiss.

In a 28-page opinion issued Tuesday, Judge Amit Mehta agreed, granting all of the defendants’ motions and dismissing the case.  The court dismissed HAF’s suit against Professor Truschke on two independent grounds.  The court found that HAF could not show Professor Truschke is subject to personal jurisdiction in the District of Columbia, requiring dismissal.  The court also found that HAF failed to plead a libel or conspiracy claim against Truschke or any of her co-defendants – independently requiring dismissal of HAF’s suit.

“At its core, fighting this lawsuit was about protecting academic freedom, political debate, and critical inquiry,” said Christina Neitzey, Stanton Fellow in the Cornell First Amendment Clinic.  “We are thrilled with this victory and hopeful that it dissuades HAF and others from seeking to use the courts to silence scholars and activists with whom they disagree in the future.”

Eric Feder, Counsel at Davis Wright Tremaine, stated, “We’re pleased that the court recognized that a lawsuit against a New Jersey college professor had no business being filed in a Washington, D.C. court, but, more importantly, that the case had no merit in the first place.  The court’s opinion reinforces the important principle that academic and political debates are a vital cornerstone of our democracy and should not form the basis of a defamation suit.”

“The Cornell First Amendment Clinic and Davis Wright Tremaine have provided amazing legal representation throughout this lengthy process, and I am deeply grateful to everyone who worked tirelessly on this case,” stated Professor Truschke.  “While this process was inevitably stressful, a silver lining has been working with some rather promising law students at Cornell.  I’m grateful that I was able to secure pro bono counsel in this litigation as well as continue my research and publishing agendas throughout.  But I worry about others in my situation who could spend their life savings defending against similar meritless lawsuits and would be compelled to bow to anti-intellectual pressure to halt their research.  I hope that one outcome of this dismissal is dissuading further bad-faith litigation that seeks to infringe on academic freedom and civil society.”

Professor Truschke was represented by Feder and Neitzey, along with First Amendment Clinic Director Mark H. Jackson, former Clinic Adjunct Professor Jared Carter, and former teaching fellow Tyler Valeska.  Former Clinic students Kathryn Rider and Tim Birchfield, as well as former Clinic intern Taylor Kay, assisted in drafting the briefs in support of Professor Truschke’s motion to dismiss.

About the Cornell Law First Amendment Clinic: The Cornell Law First Amendment Clinic represents journalists and citizens on a pro bono basis to advance the interests of free expression. Law students collaborate with faculty to represent clients in legal research, negotiations, and litigation.

The case is Hindu American Foundation v. Sunita Viswanath, et al., Civil No. 21-cv-01268 (APM), in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia.

Read the court’s full opinion here.

Contact:

Christina Neitzey, cn266@cornell.edu, (910) 620-5282

Eric Feder, EricFeder@dwt.com, (202) 973-4273

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Cornell First Amendment Clinic Secures Reinstatement of McCorkle and Maclean to Geneva Police Budget Advisory Board

GENEVA, N.Y. – The Geneva City Council reinstated James McCorkle and Robert Maclean to the City’s Police Budget Advisory Board Wednesday evening, December 7, 2022. Cornell Law School’s First Amendment Clinic negotiated the reinstatement on behalf of McCorkle and Maclean after the two Board members were removed over the summer.

The City Council approved a resolution reinstating McCorkle and Maclean at its Wednesday meeting on the recommendation of Geneva’s City Attorney, Emil Bove. The resolution acknowledged that the removal of the two Board members came after statements they had made as private individuals regarding the City’s police department and expressing their personal political views.

The First Amendment Clinic became involved after the City Council removed McCorkle and Maclean on a 5 to 4 vote in July. The removal came after McCorkle sent an open letter to the City Council, which was published in The Finger Lakes Times and shared on social media, criticizing the Geneva Police Department and the City Council.  The Clinic alleged the removal violated McCorkle’s and Maclean’s rights to Free Speech and Due Process under the United States and New York State Constitutions.

The resolution temporarily expands the membership of the Police Budget Advisory Board to seven, to account for the two Board members appointed to replace McCorkle and Maclean earlier this year. McCorkle and Maclean will sit on the Board until December 31, 2023.

“This was a necessary and important outcome,” said Christina Neitzey, Stanton Fellow in the First Amendment Clinic. “Public servants—whether they are paid or volunteer—must be free to speak as citizens on issues of public importance without fear of retaliation for criticizing their government or for their political views.”

“Our reinstatement wouldn’t have happened without the pro bono support of the First Amendment Law Clinic, James McCorkle’s courage in speaking out, and the persistence of a few City Councilors.  But for them, the City of Geneva would have gotten away with trampling on the right to free expression by retaliating against speech that is critical of the police.” said Robert Maclean.  “I’m thinking today about all of the people who don’t have the same resources with which to fight retaliation.  Dismissing us was meant to deter others from speaking out; I hope our case instead serves as a firm reminder to the Geneva City Council, the GPD, and law enforcement agencies across the country that critical scrutiny of the police is both protected by law and necessary for a functioning democracy.”

“Retaliation for speaking truth to power can never be tolerated or normalized; to critique, indeed, to call out egregious behavior by police is essential if there are to be civil and human rights, and certainly if we are ever to move beyond the carceral economy that has entrapped us.” said James McCorkle.

The First Amendment Clinic team was led by Clinic students Patrick George, James Pezzullo, and Yifei Yang, supervised by the Clinic’s Stanton Fellow Christina Neitzey and Associate Director and Associate Professor Gautam Hans.

Contact: Christina Neitzey, cn266@cornell.edu, (910) 620-5282

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Local Journalism Project News

Cornell Clinic and RCFP Win Access to Wrongful Death Suit Settlement Records on Behalf of York Daily Record

Pennsylvania news outlet the York Daily Record successfully obtained the unsealing of records in August demonstrating that York County and prison healthcare contractor PrimeCare Medical, Inc. defendants settled a wrongful death suit brought by the estate of Veronique Henry for $200,000. York County previously disclosed that its portion of the settlement was $5,000 and had refused to release full settlement details. The Cornell Law School First Amendment Clinic and the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press filed a motion to intervene and unseal the federal court records on behalf of the York Daily Record in July.

Henry’s estate brought the wrongful death suit against York County and PrimeCare defendants after Henry committed suicide in her cell shortly after her 2016 arrest in connection with a double homicide. Her estate alleged in the suit that corrections officers and healthcare workers knew that Henry was particularly vulnerable to suicide but failed to take action.

Because PrimeCare is one of the largest jail medical providers in the state, with a track record of paying “millions to settle lawsuits levied against them in federal courts in recent years,” the York Daily Record reached out to the Reporters Committee and the Cornell Clinic to file suit to obtain access to records of significant public concern.  

“Since York County’s contract with PrimeCare was just recently approved for another three years, it is critical for us to continue to report on allegations of improper medical care at York County Prison. Access to settlement records is essential to hold government and its contractors accountable,” said Randy Parker, Editor of the York Daily Record and Central Pennsylvania Executive Editor of the USA Today Network. 

Clinic student Ashley Stamegna, who took the lead in drafting the motion to intervene and unseal the settlement records with supervision from attorneys at the Clinic and the Reporters Committee, said, “We are thrilled by the complete victory for our client. The vast majority of civil cases are now resolved via settlement rather than at a trial open to the public. To allow for public scrutiny of the judicial process, settlement information should as a matter of course be equally available to the public.”

Paula Knudsen Burke of the Reporters Committee and Heather Murray, Managing Attorney of the Clinic’s Local Journalism Project, worked with Stamegna on the suit.

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Clinic Client Publishes Op-Ed on Need for Transparency in Uvalde Shooting Investigation

Freelancer Michelle Garcia published a powerful op-ed in The Daily Beast on Wednesday, June 1, 2022, regarding the need for transparency in the investigation into the Uvalde school shooting. The op-ed highlights the public records access work that the Cornell Law School First Amendment Clinic and the SMU Dedman School of Law First Amendment Clinic have been doing on her behalf to access arrest and immigration referral records related to the Texas Governor’s Operation Lone Star border initiative.

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Clinic Files Lawsuit to Obtain Buffalo Bills Stadium Study

On behalf of Buffalo-based nonprofit investigative journalism center Investigative Post, the Cornell Law School First Amendment Clinic filed an Article 78 petition against Erie County in March 2022 seeking the disclosure of documents regarding the current home of the Buffalo Bills, Highmark Stadium. Investigative Post published an article about the lawsuit here, and an update here.

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Clinic Students Go Behind the Scenes with Dow Jones and The Wall Street Journal

On Thursday, March 24, 2022, Clinic students and faculty had the privilege of meeting with an all-star team of reporters, lawyers, and standards editors from the Wall Street Journal and its parent company Dow Jones.  During the virtual meeting – the Clinic’s semi-annual “newsroom visit” – students learned about the Wall Street Journal’s approach to managing legal risk and ensuring its reporting is fair, accurate, and balanced.  The Journal team described how reporters, lawyers, and standards editors collaborate from the conception of a story through its publication (and beyond, when necessary).  As a case study for this process in action, the Journal team discussed their work on the Journal’s 2021 investigation finding that dozens of federal judges across the country had undisclosed financial conflicts.

The Clinic is grateful to the Journal team for taking the time to speak to our students and faculty.  As many students in the Clinic wish to pursue careers in media law, these newsroom visits and other opportunities to interact with lawyers, editors, and reporters are immensely valuable to the students.  Learning how an established outlet like the Wall Street Journal approaches its work also helps inform the students’ own work in the Clinic, where they frequently represent smaller outlets and independent journalists.  The Clinic looks forward to continuing this newsroom visit tradition in the future.

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Cornell First Amendment Clinic and ACLU of Oklahoma File Amicus Brief Supporting Challenge to Oklahoma Anti-Protest Bill

The Cornell Law School First Amendment Clinic and ACLU of Oklahoma filed an amicus brief on behalf of Oklahoma City-based social justice organization Collegiate Freedom & Justice in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit in support of a constitutional challenge to a recently-enacted Oklahoma anti‑protest bill, HB 1674. This bill restricts individuals’ rights to gather, demonstrate, and protest in Oklahoma’s public streets. At stake in this case is whether the Oklahoma State Legislature can bar protests in public streets.

“The freedoms of speech and assembly are integral to a representative democracy, and it is imperative that courts protect these fundamental rights,” said Olivia Foster, a third-year student at Cornell Law School and amicus brief co-author. Connor Flannery, a second-year law student at Cornell and amicus brief co-author added that, “HB 1674 is a thinly-veiled attempt to silence the type of speech at the core of the First Amendment.”

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Jackson Alumni Award

Congratulations to Lindsey Ruff – the first recipient of the Jackson Distinguished Alumni Award from the Cornell Law School First Amendment Clinic, named for Clinic Founder, Mark Jackson. 

“Lindsey continues to make a real — and lasting — contribution to the work of the Cornell First Amendment Clinic and the First Amendment itself,” praised Jackson. “A true trailblazer.”

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Clinic Student argues in the 4th Department

Ashley Stamegna, a student at the Cornell Law School First Amendment Clinic, argued an appeal before a panel of New York’s Appellate Division, Fourth Department on Ashley made the compelling, important case that our client, The Batavian, should have been granted access to an attorney disqualification motion in a family court matter and now should be provided a transcript of that proceeding. Ashley has been a forceful advocate for local journalism in her three semesters with our clinic. Congratulations also go to our clinic alumnus, Christopher Johnson, and current student Tim Birchfield, both of whom worked with Ashley on the brief which a Judge on the panel said in open court was “exceedingly well written”. Final congrats to Heather Murray, the Managing Attorney of our clinic’s Local Journalism Project, for supervising this important matter.

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Bruce Brown, Executive Director of the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press visits Cornell

The Clinic is grateful to Bruce Brown, Executive Director of the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press for coming up to Ithaca this past week to address our law school and university communities on critical free speech issues of the day. Brown also gave a special presentation to our First Amendment Clinic students in their class the following day.

It is organizations like RCFP, and colleagues like Brown, who make the Clinic’s work so much more impactful and our time doing it so much more rewarding and downright enjoyable.