First Amendment 1, In-Laws 0

Sunda Croonquist, a stand-up comedian “whose act for years has been to describe her life as a half-black, half-Swedish woman who marries into a Jewish family” (law.com, May 6, 2010), prevailed on a motion to dismiss filed under Rule 12(b)(6) in which Judge Mary L. Cooper of the District Court of New Jersey held as a matter of law that the claims filed by Croonquist’s mother-in-law, brother-in-law, and sister-in-law were not defamatory, did not cast the plaintiffs in a false light, and did not constitute intentional or negligent infliction of emotional distress.  (Case 3:09-cv-01938-MLC-LHG).

I suppose Thanksgiving will be uncomfortable this year.