HUGE Library Victory in Lafayette

Librarian lawsuit update

You remember that librarian from Livingston Parish that sued us a year ago, right? We'll be doing a more formal update when things are finalized (and it looks like that's happening really soon). In the mean time, here's a short version to get you caught up. Last week, I visited the First Circuit Court of Appeals in Baton Rouge. As with this entire process so far, there wasn't much for me to do other than observe. The whole process was limited to a half-hour.

The appellant attorney (for Jones) used up her entire 15 minutes to suggest that the lower court erred in throwing out a defamation claim (twice) against Citizens for a New Louisiana, Michael Lunsford, and Ryan Thames. Our attorneys (we're the appellee) covered some minor points regarding public figures, matters of public interest, first amendment freedoms of the press, jurisprudence on satirical cartoons (for Thames), etc.

During this exercise, none of the three-judge panel asked a single question. After all parties were finished presenting, Judge McClendon (who was the lead judge) said, although it's certainly not required, she'd really enjoy receiving a brief from all parties within fifteen days. She then turned to Jones' attorney and suggested that her brief should include support for the position that their appeal was filed in a timely matter.

Our full-time staff is shining our little flashlight in more dark corners of Louisiana. That research is reaching new people and communities all across Louisiana. However, our limited resources means we can only work on a tiny fraction of the information that floods into our offices each and ever day. We need financial resources to cover higher website traffic costs, hire new research staff, and publish more articles. Will you join us?

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