The Clinic and co-counsel Davis Wright Tremaine represented Rutgers University Professor Audrey Truschke in an important case implicating academic freedom and free speech principles. Dr. Truschke is a respected scholar of South Asian History and human rights activist. The Clinic represented Dr. Truschke as a co-defendant in a defamation and conspiracy suit the Hindu American Foundation (\u201cHAF\u201d) filed in federal court in the District of Columbia against Truschke and four other activists.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
HAF\u2019s 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\u2019s AlJazeera.com concerning the awarding of federal COVID relief funds to organizations including HAF, which the articles characterized as \u201cHindu right-wing groups.\u201d HAF subsequently brought claims for defamation and civil conspiracy against Dr. Truschke and four individuals quoted in the Al Jazeera articles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In late 2021, Professor Truschke filed a motion to dismiss HAF\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In late 2022, Judge Amit Mehta granted all of the defendants’ motions, dismissing the case in full. The court dismissed HAF\u2019s 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 \u2013 independently requiring dismissal of HAF\u2019s suit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAt its core, fighting this lawsuit was about protecting academic freedom, political debate, and critical inquiry,\u201d said Christina Neitzey, Stanton Fellow in the Cornell First Amendment Clinic. \u201cWe 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.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Eric Feder, Counsel at Davis Wright Tremaine, stated, \u201cWe\u2019re 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\u2019s 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.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe 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,\u201d stated Professor Truschke. \u201cWhile this process was inevitably stressful, a silver lining has been working with some rather promising law students at Cornell. I\u2019m 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.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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\u2019s motion to dismiss.<\/p>\n\n\n\n