Josh Duggar Lawsuit Updates: Federal Judge Dismisses Case Against Arkansas Officials, Publishing Company
The court dismissed several lawsuits filed by Josh Duggar against the county officials and the publishing company that exposed his past child molestation case.
Arkansas Online revealed that US District Judge Tim Brooks ruled that the Springdale and Washington County officials were not liable for any claims from the eldest Duggar child after they released the redacted police investigative reports stating that he molested four of his younger sisters to InTouch Weekly in May 2015.
The federal judge also ruled that InTouch Weekly's publisher Bauer Publishing and its legal team were also dismissed from the case filed by Duggar and his four younger sisters since the company was protected by a First Amendment right that allowed the tabloid to publish the information that it acquired under a Freedom of Information act request.
Get Our Latest News for FREE
According to the report, the judge came up with the decision since Duggar and his sisters did not made any allegations in their lawsuits that the publishing company released any untruthful information about their child molestation case. Judge Brooks also mentioned that the police documents that were provided to the publishing company was handed out due to a request under the Freedom of Information Act.
"Even if one assumes that the disclosure failed to comply with Arkansas statutory redaction requirements, it is clear that the Bauer defendants cannot be held liable," the judge stated.
However, Duggar's sisters Jill Duggar-Dillard, Jessa Duggar-Seewald, Jinger Duggar-Vuolo, and Joy-Anna Duggar-Forsyth could still run after the Springdale and Washington County police officials in their separate lawsuit.
Another report also obtained the legal documents where Brooks explained the difference between Duggar's case and his sisters.
"A critical difference between the two cases is that while the Dillard Complaint [the lawsuit filed by Josh's sisters] alleged that the Dillard Plaintiffs' identities as Joshua Duggar's victims 'were not in the public record before the FOIA disclosures were made,' ...the same cannot be said for Joshua Duggar's role in the alleged offense," the document stated.
The case filed by Duggar's younger sisters is still being evaluated at this point.
