Wired News: Net Chat Anoints Public Figure:


Can mention on the net turn an ordinary citizen into a public figure with severely limited abilities to fight libel and defamation lawsuits? According to a Florida judge's ruling -- perhaps the first of its kind in the United States -- the answer is yes.

In an Oct. 21 ruling, Florida circuit court Judge Karen Cole threw out a defamation case against two TV stations because she deemed the plaintiff -- a Jacksonville woman -- to be a public figure who had been subject to "substantial" internet debate.

In the eyes of the law, public figures are usually politicians or celebrities, who have limited rights to claim that they've been libeled or defamed, thanks to a 1964 ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court.

Among other things, Cole said plaintiff Eliza Thomas had become a public figure because there had been "substantial public debate" regarding her and her husband on the internet.

Thomas claimed First Coast News, a joint operation of two TV stations, defamed her while reporting her efforts to remove the feeding tube from her brain-damaged husband, who is on life support.

In the wake of the Terri Schiavo debate, which also took place in Florida, Thomas' case is controversial enough.

But there's a twist: The state attorney general's office is investigating whether Thomas had something to do with her husband's injuries, raising the prospect of criminal charges. Thomas claims her husband was injured when he tripped over a dog in the kitchen.

The ruling could set an informal precedent and influence other courts, said Jacksonville media attorney George Gabel.

Gabel, who represented the TV stations against Thomas, successfully fought off the defamation suit by, in part, pointing to web coverage of the plaintiff's legal battle over her brain-damaged husband.