Supreme Court
Roe v. Patterson
- Case number: 24-0368
- Legal category: Intentional Torts
- Subtype: Defamation
- Set for oral argument: September 11, 2024
Case Summary
The principal issue in this certified-question case is whether a person can be held liable for supplying defamatory material to a publisher. Jane Roe alleges that she was sexually assaulted by a fellow student of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in 2015. She sued the seminary and its president, Leighton Paige Patterson, for negligently failing to protect her from the assaults and for allegedly defaming her after. The district court granted summary judgment for Patterson and the seminary on all claims, and Roe appealed.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit affirmed the district court’s grant of summary judgment against Roe on her negligence claims but certified the following questions regarding her defamation claims to the Supreme Court:
- Can a person who supplies defamatory material to another for publication be liable for defamation?
- If so, can a defamation plaintiff survive summary judgment by presenting evidence that a defendant was involved in preparing a defamatory publication, without identifying any specific statements made by the defendant?
The Court accepted the certified questions.
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