On January 17, 2014, the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit addressed the question, “What First Amendment protections are afforded a blogger sued for defamation?”

The Court held, “…that liability for a defamatory blog post involving a matter of public concern cannot be imposed without proof of fault and actual damages.”

Here is a link to the Court’s for-publication opinion.

The Court’s ruling was summarized in an Associated Press story online written by Jeff Barnard and published January 17, 2014.  The story was headlined Court:  Bloggers Have First Amendment Protections.

The news story reports, “If the issue is of public concern, plaintiffs have to prove negligence to win damages.”  Here is a brief but useful introductory explanation of negligence.

OpenCdA is an opinion blog, certainly not a legal authority.  Bloggers should discuss with their own attorneys the applicability of court decisions such as this one to their specific blogs.