Central Park Five seek to keep ACLU, free speech advocates from weighing in on defamation lawsuit against Trump

Source: Law & Crime

Jan 16th, 2025, 5:19 pm


The Central Park Five urged a federal judge in Pennsylvania not to allow several nonparty media organizations and trade associations — as well as the ACLU — to weigh in on their defamation lawsuit against President-elect Donald Trump, saying the effort amounted to nothing more than “bullying” aimed at advancing their business interests.

The wrongly-accused quintet sued Trump for allegedly false statements he made during last year’s presidential debate with Kamala Harris in which he said the men “pled guilty” to the horrific attack and “ultimately killed a person.” Yusef Salaam, Antron McCray, Korey Wise, Kevin Richardson, and Raymond Santana gave police coerced confessions, but never pleaded guilty, nor did the victim of the attack die.

On Wednesday, a coalition of organizations “with free speech interests” sought to file an amicus brief, meaning that while they are not party to the case, the group believes their information or arguments may help the court come to proper legal conclusions.

In this case, the amicus curiae did not take a position on the merits of the case for either side, but argued that the state’s anti-SLAPP statute, which provides immunity and fee-shifting for defendants who have to litigate frivolous lawsuits, should apply to the Central Park Five’s suit against Trump. But attorneys representing the plaintiffs said the court should reject the request to file the “friend-of-the-court brief,” as the coalition was just using the opportunity to intimidate any prospective victims who might sue their organizations.

Read more: https://lawandcrime.com/high-profile/nothing-more-than-a-bullying-effort-central-park-five-seek-to-keep-aclu-free-speech-advocates-from-weighing-in-on-defamation-lawsuit-against-trump/