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The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit decides the case of John R. Lott, Jr. versus the book Freakonomics

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit decides the case of John R. Lott, Jr. versus the book Freakonomics: Circuit Judge Terence T. Evans wrote today's opinion on behalf of a unanimous three-judge panel.

The opinion begins:

John Lott, an academic and economist, believes that his reputation was sullied by Freakonomics, the popular and off-beat book written by Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubner. Lott's name was mentioned in one paragraph of the 200-page book, and he understood this passage to be an accusation of scholarly dishonesty. Offended, he filed suit against Levitt and HarperCollins, the publisher of the book, claiming that he had been defamed. The district court dismissed this claim after concluding that the passage could reasonably be read as a refutation of Lott's controversial theories and not a swipe at his integrity. Lott now appeals.

In today's ruling, the Seventh Circuit affirms the district court's dismissal of Lott's claim that the book's refutation of Lott's "more-guns/less-crime hypothesis" was defamatory.

The case was orally argued in October 2008, and you can download the oral argument audio via this link (6.01MB mp3 audio file).

Full post as published by How Appealing on February 11, 2009 (boomark / email).