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Davis v. Boeheim, 22 N.E.3d 999 (N.Y. 2014)
A plaintiff may sue only when a defendant made a false assertion of fact. That means that opinions are, by definition, not actionable. But distinguishing fact from opinion can be difficult. We will consider two cases on this point. As we will see, the question tends to vary depending on the facts of case—including the identity of the speaker and the context of a statement. Our first case deals with one of the sex abuse scandals. The second concerns the then-president of the United States. In either case, the difference between a fact and an opinion seems elusive.
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