From the Florida Court of Appeal's decision yesterday in CNN, Inc. v. Young, written by Judge Clayton Roberts and joined by Judges Thomas Winokur and Robert Long:
Young is a U.S. Navy Veteran and former U.S. government operative who operates a private security consulting practice through his company, Nemex Enterprises, Inc. (collectively, "Young"). Part of Young's work involved evacuating Afghan citizens during the United States withdrawal from Afghanistan.
On November 11, 2021, CNN's "The Lead with Jake Tapper" aired a video segment by reporter Alex Marquardt about Afghans attempting to flee the Taliban via private evacuation operators like Young. Over the next few days, Marquardt's reporting was republished on another CNN program, disseminated on Facebook and Twitter, and repackaged into a digital article on CNN's website….
Young sued for libel and related torts, and sought punitive damages; the appellate court held that he had offered sufficient evidence to support that request:
