Attorney Bill Burdett (standing), representing “John Doe” in Fazlul Sarkar vs. John Doe, made oral arguments in October 2016 to judges Colleen O’Brien (left) and Elizabeth Gleicher (right) as Alex Abdo (seated), the ACLU lawyer representing PubPeer, looked on.BOB GRANT
The Michigan Court of Appeals issued an opinion in favor of PubPeer today (December 7), ending litigation that pitted the post-publication peer review website against Fazlul Sarkar, a former Wayne State University pathologist who was the subject of research misconduct allegations posted by anonymous commenters on the forum. While the court ruled that Sarkar is still entitled to pursue an independent defamation claim, it affirmed that the online commenters’ identities are protected under the First Amendment.
“This ruling is a critical victory for freedom of speech and scientific inquiry,” Alex Abdo, an attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), which defended PubPeer—as well as anonymous commenters Jane and John Doe—wrote in a statement emailed to The Scientist. “Scientists who anonymously review the work of ...
