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Home > Esfeller v. The Daily Reveille

Esfeller v. The Daily Reveille [1]

Submitted by DMLP Staff on Mon, 04/13/2009 - 18:43

Summary

Threat Type: 

Lawsuit

Date: 

03/16/2009

Status: 

Pending

Disposition: 

Dismissed (total)

Location: 

Louisiana

Verdict or Settlement Amount: 

N/A

Legal Claims: 

Defamation
In March 2009, Terrance Esfeller filed a defamation lawsuit in Louisiana state court against Louisiana State University, its student newspaper The Daily Reveille, faculty advisers to the newspaper, and its top student editors. The lawsuit revolves around anonymous comments posted on ... read full description
Parties

Party Receiving Legal Threat: 

Board of Supervisors for Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College; Michael Martin; Dr. John Hamilton; James Shelledy; Melissa Moore; The Daily Reveille; Kyle Whitfield; Tyler Batiste; Gerri Sax; Alex Bond

Type of Party: 

Individual

Type of Party: 

Individual
Organization
School

Location of Party: 

  • Louisiana

Location of Party: 

  • Louisiana

Legal Counsel: 

Terrance Esfeller (Pro Se)

Legal Counsel: 

Taylor Carroll (for Louisiana State University)
Description

In March 2009, Terrance Esfeller filed a defamation lawsuit in Louisiana state court against Louisiana State University, its student newspaper The Daily Reveille, faculty advisers to the newspaper, and its top student editors. The lawsuit revolves around anonymous comments posted on the newspaper's website [2] in response to the newspaper's coverage of an ongoing legal dispute with LSU.  After filing suit, Esfeller amended his complaint to include allegations based on a March 12 story the newspaper published about the lawsuit, which republished several of the comments in question.  In the suit, Esfeller sought money damages and an injunction ordering the removal of the comments and preventing further comments about him in the future.

Judge Todd Hernandez dismissed the case [3] March 31, 2009.  He concluded that the newspaper and its operators were protected from liability under Section 230 [4] of the Communications Decency Act [4] for comments made by the website's users.  Esfeller told the Student Press Law Center [3] that he intends to pursue a case directly against the anonymous commenter or commenters and to use discovery to obtain IP addresses and other identifying information.

Related Links: 

  • The Student Press Law Center: Former LSU student sues newspaper, adviser, university for comments made on paper's Web site [5]
  • The Student Press Law Center: Judge dismisses former LSU student's lawsuit against campus newspaper [3]
Details

Web Site(s) Involved: 

The Daily Reveille [2]

Content Type: 

  • Text

Publication Medium: 

Print
Website

Subject Area: 

  • Defamation
  • Third-Party Content
  • Section 230
  • Student Speech
Court Information & Documents

Jurisdiction: 

  • Louisiana

Source of Law: 

  • United States
  • Louisiana

Court Name: 

19th Judicial District Court, Louisiana

Court Type: 

State

Case Number: 

575395

Relevant Documents: 

PDF icon 2009-03-16-Esfeller v. Reveille Complaint.PDF [6]
CMLP Information (Private)

Priority: 

1-High

CMLP Notes: 

Source: Student Press Law Center

Need to check for appeal

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Source URL (modified on 08/20/2014 - 11:09pm): https://www.dmlp.org/threats/esfeller-v-daily-reveille

Links
[1] https://www.dmlp.org/threats/esfeller-v-daily-reveille
[2] http://www.lsureveille.com/
[3] http://www.splc.org/newsflash.asp?id=1893
[4] https://www.dmlp.org/legal-guide/immunity-online-publishers-under-communications-decency-act
[5] http://www.splc.org/newsflash.asp?id=1891
[6] https://www.dmlp.org/sites/dmlp.org/files/sites/citmedialaw.org/files/2009-03-16-Esfeller%20v.%20Reveille%20Complaint.PDF