Defamation Charges Dismissed Against Police Reporter

Levitt was sued by a police officer whose picture accompanied a New York Post review of his book, NYPD Confidential: Power and Corruption in the Country’s greatest Police Force. Levitt re-posted the review of the book on his website, NYPDconfidential.com. The police officer maintained that because the subject of Levitt’s book was police corruption that readers would infer that he personally was a corrupt cop.

“For any ordinary person who did nothing wrong, being sued for $5million dollars is disquieting to say the least,” Levitt said. “I am relieved a grateful to the NYCLU for taking my case.”

The New York Civil Liberties Union and cooperating attorney Ken Norwick defended Levitt’s First Amendment rights and his right to republication.

“In this day and age it’s critically important that we stand up for our First Amendment rights online. No one should be afraid to re-post a story from a reputable source on his or her blog or website,” said NYCLU Associate Legal Director Christopher Dunn.

According to the decision, a “re-publisher” of any work may rely on the research of the original publisher, unless there is reason to question the accuracy of the article or the good faith of the reporter.

The police officer also sued The New York Post, the original publisher of the photo and book review. That lawsuit was settled out of court leaving Levitt, who does not have the same legal or monetary resources as News Corp., in a tough position to defend himself against the charges.

“This is a very important decision because it establishes the right of websites to reproduce content from other sources without running the risk of being sued for libel,” Norwick said.