Court: Maine Supreme Judicial Court
Citation: 2022 ME 12
Opinion Date: February 10, 2022
Judge: Joseph Jabar
Areas of Law: Personal Injury
This case law update is brought to you by Freeway Law auto accident and personal injury lawyers in Orange County. The following is not one of our cases, but it is of some significance, and we thought we should share it with our readers for informational purposes. The information above is for informational purposes only and not to be construed as legal advice.
The Supreme Judicial Court declined to consider a question certified to the Court by the First Circuit Court of Appeals, holding that there was no clear controlling precedent.
Plaintiff brought a complaint in a federal district court against multiple defendants, including Investor’s Business Daily (IBD) and Sally Pipes, a writer for the IBD, alleging, among other claims, defamation and negligent infliction of emotional distress. IBD filed a special motion to dismiss, arguing that Me. Rev. Stat. Title 14, 556, Maine’s anti-SLAPP statute applied. The district court denied the special motion to dismiss. On appeal, the First Circuit certified to the Supreme Court whether IBD’s special motion to dismiss should be granted under Maine’s anti-SLAPP law. The Supreme Judicial Court declined to answer the question, holding that there was no clear precedent that applied to this dispute.
