Clarence Thomas Says He Would Hear ‘Hate Group’ Appeal, Revisit Libel Law – By Greg Stohr (Bloomberg) / June 27, 2022
(Bloomberg) — US Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas renewed his call to roll back the constitutional protections against defamation lawsuits, saying he would have heard arguments from a Christian ministry labeled an “anti-LGBT hate group” because of its dissemination of sermons condemning homosexuality.
The court Monday turned away an appeal from Coral Ridge Ministries Media Inc., which said it was defamed by the Southern Poverty Law Center, a group that monitors organizations it considers to be hate groups. Thomas was the lone justice to say he would have heard the case.
“SPLC’s ‘hate group’ designation lumped Coral Ridge’s Christian ministry with groups like the Ku Klux Klan and Neo-Nazis,” Thomas wrote. “It placed Coral Ridge on an interactive, online ‘Hate Map’ and caused Coral Ridge concrete financial injury.”
