Fourth Circuit· 9/24/2009

Snyder v. Phelps

Citations

580 F.3d 206
37 Media L. Rep. (BNA) 2377
2009 U.S. App. LEXIS 21173
2009 WL 3032480

How courts have described this case

Verbatim parenthetical descriptions written by other courts when citing this decision. Ranked by citation-network relevance.

noting that “regardless of the specific tort being employed, the First Amendment applies when a plaintiff seeks damages for reputational, mental, or emotional 10 injury allegedly resulting from the defendant’s speech”
noting that an appellant “must raise in its opening brief all the issues it wishes the court to address” and concluding that an appellant waived contentions not briefed (internal quotation marks omitted)
“[T]he [Supreme] Court has recognized that there are constitutional limits on the type of speech to which state tort liability may attach.”
“It is well established that tort liability under state law, even in the context of litigation between private parties, is circumscribed by the First Amendment.”
Any effort to justify a media/nonmedia distinction rests on unstable ground . . . . Thus, for our purposes, the status of the Defendants as media or nonmedia is immaterial.”
“[W]e are obliged to assess how an objective, reasonable reader would understand a challenged statement by focusing on the plain language of the statement and the context and general tenor of its message.”

Source: CourtListener parenthetical corpus (CC0).

Judges: King, Shedd, Duncan

Read full opinion on CourtListener

Cited by

34 cases in this archive cite this case; the 20 most cited are listed.

Cites

54 cases in this archive are cited by this case; the 20 most cited are listed.

Other cases with this name

Sourced from CourtListener / Free Law Project (CC0).

This is legal information, not legal advice. Laws vary by jurisdiction and change frequently. Always verify current law with official sources and consult a licensed attorney in your jurisdiction for advice on your specific situation.