A federal judge says one of Georgia's most vocal advocates for strict immigration policies can move forward with its defamation lawsuit against the Southern Poverty Law Center over being labeled an ‘anti-immigrant hate group.’
Why it matters: The decision allows the Dustin Inman Society to demand emails, notes and other documents that could show how the group decides the designation.
Doing so could be key to proving ‘actual malice,’ which is the high bar that public figures must clear to win a defamation case.
What's happening: Judge William Keith Watkins of Alabama’s Middle District Federal Court earlier this month denied the SPLC's motion to dismiss the DIS' complaint.
Details: D.A. King, the DIS founder and president who also earned criticism from the Anti-Defamation League, claimed that the SPLC's ‘hate group’ label put the society at risk of violence and damaged its reputation.
In a 55-page memorandum released this week, Watkins disagreed with SPLC’s argument that the label was opinion, and thus protected speech.
The judge said the timing of the ‘hate group’ designation -- coming years after initially saying the label did not apply -- was enough to warrant additional ‘probing via discovery.’
