And with public figures there’s also the actual malice requirement, which requires the defendant to have evidence they were telling a lie and, or have shown so little interest in checking the facts that the only reasonable explanation is they were actively avoiding the truth.
But the “Miami police department” does, and these character saren’t named as specific individuals. Only the police department. The police department is certainly, itself, a “public figure”, which the defendants could easily demonstrate using the public figure’s social media posts and press releases. Is there case law saying that a group such as a corporation cannot constitute a “public figure”?
And with public figures there’s also the actual malice requirement, which requires the defendant to have evidence they were telling a lie and, or have shown so little interest in checking the facts that the only reasonable explanation is they were actively avoiding the truth.
This sounds like a description of Faux News.
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That’s true. But I’m not sure your average cop in Miami counts as a public figure for the purposes of defamation.
But the “Miami police department” does, and these character saren’t named as specific individuals. Only the police department. The police department is certainly, itself, a “public figure”, which the defendants could easily demonstrate using the public figure’s social media posts and press releases. Is there case law saying that a group such as a corporation cannot constitute a “public figure”?
That’s fair. A case could be made as such for sure. I’m not aware of any case law for our against that assertion.