Louisiana Justice Hughes Wins $300,000 From The Advocate in Defamation Verdict

1 articles · Updated · The Guardian · Aug 25

$300,000 was awarded to Louisiana Supreme Court Justice Jefferson Davis Hughes III after an Iberville Parish jury found a 2019 Advocate editorial defamed him, reaching its verdict after 45 minutes.
Jurors concluded Hughes met the high bar for a public official by proving actual malice, after the trial judge had ruled the paper could be found to have acted with reckless disregard for the truth.
The case centered on an editorial saying Hughes was romantically involved with lawyer Berkley Durbin while she represented a party in a 1998-99 custody fight; the paper later took years to clarify the timeline online.
The award fell far short of the $10 million Hughes sought, with the jury foreman saying the panel was initially split on defamation but agreed his damages were much lower.
The verdict followed an Alabama jury's $9.25 million award against the New York Times on Friday, marking a second straight business day of US juries imposing defamation damages on major publications.