Opinion from Massachusetts Superior Court Judge John Pappas lucy v kinnondecided last month, but just posted on Westlaw; seems correct to me:
Mr. Kinnon’s allegedly defamatory remarks were directed at…Mr. Lucey…in response to comments made by Mr. Lucey in Mr. Kinnon’s post on the Facebook group “Malden (Mass.) Politics.” The group has more than 2,000 members and “serves as a forum for discussion of local events and political issues relevant to Maldon and the surrounding area”. Mr Lucey claimed that he and Mr Kinnon had a history of online communications dating back “many years ago” and that Mr Kinnon made “obnoxious” insults to him, including attacking his skills and intelligence as a lawyer. this [allegedly defamatory] The full text of the comment is as follows:
I’m starting to wonder if you can read. Might want to read this again, anyone who would hire you as a lawyer God bless them because someone must have taken the bar exam for you. Please read my answer to Mr. Bernstein again, it may be helpful to you.
Reading the entire article, it is clear that Mr. Kinnon’s comments were not making any factual assertions but were using exaggerated language to insult Mr. Lucy. For example, although Mr. Kinnon was well aware that Mr. Lucey was not illiterate, given his history of written communications with Mr. Lucey, Mr. Kinnon mockingly said, “I’m starting to wonder if you have the ability to read.” Kinnon The gentleman then wrote, “Someone Must have Took the bar exam for you.
Significantly, Mr. Kinnon did not assert that anyone took the bar exam for Mr. Lucy. Instead, he speculates that someone “must” have taken the bar exam for Mr. Lucy, just as he sarcastically speculates on whether Mr. Lucy can read.
Furthermore, anyone who has used Facebook knows that it is a platform that breeds spite and teenage communication. Therefore, the court cannot conclude that objectively reasonable Facebook users, especially those who frequent pages about local politics, would question Mr. Lucey’s ethics or qualifications as an attorney simply by reading Mr. Kinnon’s statement… ….
Before you use this as an excuse to tell me that “someone must have taken the bar exam for you,” remember that I now have judicial precedent for the proposition that “Wollock was right.”
