PHOENIX (AP) - The Arizona Supreme Court said Wednesday it will decide whether a newspaper can be sued for publishing a letter suggesting that American soldiers in Iraq [should] respond to attacks by killing Muslims at nearby mosques.
The Supreme Court agreed without comment to hear the Tucson Citizen's appeal of a judge's decision to hold a trial in a lawsuit accusing the newspaper of distressing residents by printing the letter.
The Supreme Court ordered legal briefs filed within 30 days. No date was set for oral arguments.
Two Tucson men filed a class-action lawsuit against the Gannett Co. newspaper in January 2004 over a letter printed Dec. 2, 2003, as deadly attacks against U.S. troops in Iraq mounted.
The letter prompted some fearful Tucson Muslims to keep their children home from religious schools and resulted in protests from readers and a published apology by the Citizen, which also sent staff members to meet with members of a local mosque.
The lawsuit argued that the newspaper's decision to publish the letter was not constitutionally protected because it was a direct call to violence that could extend to Islamic-Americans.
Superior Court Judge Leslie Miller ruled May 10 that the lawsuit's claim of intentional infliction of emotional distress should stand.
The paper printed a letter. Can you say "First Amendment"? I knew that you could. Details here from the AP via My Way News.