NY top court rejects online defamation suit

Criminal Law

New York's top court has rejected a real estate broker's defamation claim against a rival business over anonymous comments posted on its website saying the broker mistreated agents, failed to pay bills and was racist and anti-Semitic.

The Court of Appeals split 4-3 in Tuesday's ruling that the federal Communications Decency Act prohibits the claim by Christakis Shiamili, head of Ardor Realty Corp. He had sued The Real Estate Group of New York, its chief operating officer and the employee who moderated the now-defunct website.

The content was posted for a few days in February 2008.

The court majority says the federal law protects those who administer Web content provided by third parties.

The dissenting judges say the operator provided notes and an illustration contributing materially to "scurrilous defamatory attacks."

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Grounds for Divorce in Ohio - Sylkatis Law, LLC

A divorce in Ohio is filed when there is typically “fault” by one of the parties and party not at “fault” seeks to end the marriage. A court in Ohio may grant a divorce for the following reasons:
• Willful absence of the adverse party for one year
• Adultery
• Extreme cruelty
• Fraudulent contract
• Any gross neglect of duty
• Habitual drunkenness
• Imprisonment in a correctional institution at the time of filing the complaint
• Procurement of a divorce outside this state by the other party

Additionally, there are two “no-fault” basis for which a court may grant a divorce:
• When the parties have, without interruption for one year, lived separate and apart without cohabitation
• Incompatibility, unless denied by either party

However, whether or not the the court grants the divorce for “fault” or not, in Ohio the party not at “fault” will not get a bigger slice of the marital property.

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New York & New Jersey Family Law Matters We represent our clients in all types of proceedings that include termination of parental rights. >> read