The Supreme Court only granted certiorari in one case this morning, MOAC Mall Holdings LLC v. Transform Holdco LLC, concerning Section 363(m) of the Bankruptcy Code.
Among the cases in which the Supreme Court denied certiorari was Coral Ridge Ministries Media v. Southern Poverty Law Center, in which Coral Ridge sued SPLC for defamation for labeling the ministry a "hate group" due to its opposition to homosexuality. Coral Ridge maintained this was a defamatory claim, which had the consequence of preventing Coral Ridge from participating in the AmazonSmile program for charitable donations.
The district court concluded that SPLC's characterization of Coral Ridge was protected opinion, and that Coral Ridge could not demonstrate that SPLC had acted with "actual malice," as is required by New York Times Co. v. Sullivan. The Eleventh Circuit affirmed, relying solely on the "actual malice" standard, prompting the petition for certiorari.
