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LEWIS v. TIME INC.

United States Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit (1983) | 710 F.2d 549

3 min read

TL;DR: A lawyer sued Time magazine for libel after it called him a "shady practitioner." The court ruled for Time, holding that opinions based on disclosed, true facts are constitutionally protected from defamation claims, even if they imply dishonesty.

Legal Significance: This case establishes that under the First Amendment, an expression of opinion is not actionable as defamation if it is based on disclosed, true, non-defamatory facts, even if the opinion itself is derogatory and implies professional misconduct.