Supreme Court of Florida, via Wikimedia CommonsSourcePublic domain (Florida government work)Stored unchanged.
Barbara Lagoa is a judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit, appointed in 2019. She previously served on the Florida Supreme Court and the Florida Third District Court of Appeal and worked as a federal prosecutor.
We have documented 1 statement by Barbara Lagoa, in 1 case. Each statement below gives the quotation, its original source and a link to the full case.
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Role at the time: Eleventh Circuit judge writing a separate concurrence
Condemned
Statement summary
Lagoa criticizes Sullivan as a policy choice lacking historical support, while concurring in the result under binding precedent.
“Sullivan and its progeny are policy-driven decisions dressed up as constitutional law”
Read the original text (opens in a new tab)Dershowitz v. CNN: Eleventh Circuit decision and separate concurrencesMajority opinion and separate Lagoa and Wilson concurrences
Why we used this label
Lagoa criticizes Sullivan and its public-figure extensions. Her agreement with the outcome under binding precedent does not make her stance on retaining the rule mixed.
Thomas and Gorsuch question the constitutional basis and present-day effects of actual malice. Defenders stress protection for criticism and reporting. The Court's June 2026 refusal to hear Dershowitz's challenge left the rule in place.
