SEJ Joins Call for Affirmation of Dismissal of Defamation Lawsuit Against the NYT

March 11, 2019 — SEJ joined the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press and 39 other media organizations in filing a friend-of-the-court brief urging a federal appeals court to affirm its November 6, 2018 decision dismissing the defamation lawsuit brought against The New York Times by Dr. Carlo Croce, an Ohio State University professor and cancer researcher.

Croce sued the Times in 2017 after it published a story detailing allegations that he had "engaged in data falsification and other scientific misconduct and discussing the wider issue of scientific integrity at research institutions."

The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio dismissed most of Croce’s claims against the Times on November 6, 2018.

The amicus brief, filed March 11 with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, argued that the November ruling should be affirmed as it upholds protections upon which journalists rely to report on live controversies on matters of public concern.