Petition about which website publishers get an interlocutory appeal as members of the media under Texas law

by Don Cruse
the Supreme Court of Texas Blog
September 16, 2009

https://www.legal-project.org/463/petition-about-which-website-publishers-get

Excerpt:

Islamic Society of Arlington Texas, Inc. v. Joe Kaufman, No. 09-0699 (DB)

This pending petition involves a defamation claim brought against the publisher of an internet site.

The substantive defamation question is probably not as interesting as the threshold question of whether this defendant was entitled to an immediate, interlocutory appeal of the denial of his summary judgment motion.

Under Texas law, very few trial court actions can trigger an interlocutory appeal. One of those is a special provision for a class of defamation claims, which is triggered when the trial court:

denies a motion for summary judgment that is based in whole or in part upon a claim against or defense by a member of the electronic or print media, acting in such capacity, or a person whose communication appears in or is published by the electronic or print media, arising under the free speech or free press clause of the First Amendment to the United States Constitution, or Article I, Section 8, of the Texas Constitution, or Chapter 73; ¹

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