An excerpt from the long opinion in Kay v. Irish Rover Inc., decided yesterday by Indiana Court of Appeals Judge Paul Mathias, joined by Judges Elaine Brown and Dana Kenworthy:
Dr. Tamara Kay appeals the St. Joseph Superior Court's order granting The Irish Rover, Inc.'s, motion to dismiss her defamation claim…. On the dates the alleged defamation occurred, Dr. Kay was a tenured professor in the Keough School of Global Affairs and the Sociology Department at the University of Notre Dame. Her "academic research and teaching is focused on trade, labor, social movements, globalization, organizations, and global health which includes reproductive health and rights." Many of Dr. Kay's extensive writings in journals, newspapers, and on Twitter focus on advocating for abortion legalization.
The Irish Rover is an independent, student newspaper at the University. {[O]ne of its missions is to articulate and defend the Catholic character of the University.} …
After the United States Supreme Court decided Dobbs v. Jackson Woman's Health Organization on June 24, 2022, Dr. Kay "became more outspoken on the issue of abortion access," including more frequent posts on Twitter. On September 15, 2022, the Indiana General Assembly's legislation limiting abortion in Indiana took effect, although it was enjoined shortly thereafter….
Kay sued over two articles published by the Irish Rover that concerned Dr. Kay's speech. To oversimplify matters somewhat, under Indiana libel law, a libel claim based on speech on matters of public concern can only prevail based on a showing of knowing or reckless falsehood—mere negligence isn't enough, even if plaintiff is a private figure. (In this respect, Indiana libel law is more speaker-protective than the constitutional minimum set forth by First Amendment law.) And here, the court concluded that the Rover's statements were either true or at least reasonable interpretations of the facts that the Rover had, and certainly weren't knowingly or recklessly false:
