A judge dismissed a libel lawsuit against a reporter who wrote about workplace conditions at the Santa Barbara News-Press, the the Associated Press (AP) has reported. The September 24 ruling by Orange County Superior Court Judge H Warren Siegel in the case of journalist Susan Paterno was made under a California law geared to prevent the silencing of critics through lawsuits.
Some backgrounder:
"It's a wonderful vindication for Susan and a victory for the First Amendment," Paterno's attorney Charles Tobin told the Associated Press.
Stanton Stein, a lawyer for Ampersand Publishing, which publishes the newspaper, did not immediately respond to a message seeking comment.
Paterno's story appeared in the December 2006-January 2007 issue of the American Journalism Review.
Ampersand sued Paterno, citing passages that described the killing of a story about an editor's drunken driving sentence, the publisher's cutting of newsroom staff benefits, and a workplace restraining order against a former employee.
