Salyer v. SOUTHERN POVERTY LAW CENTER, INC.

MEMORANDUM OPINION

JOHN G. HEYBURN, II, District Judge.

Plaintiff, Robert E. Salyer, brought this action in Jefferson County (Kentucky) Circuit Court alleging that Defendant, The Southern Poverty Law Center, Inc., published defamatory statements about him in its 2006 “Intelligence Report,” which was published in a print magazine and online. Plaintiff filed suit on December 18, 2008. Defendant removed the case to this Court on diversity grounds.

The pending motions raise novel and interesting issues concerning allegedly defamatory statements on the internet and what might constitute republication…