In 2023 Malden’s former city councilor Neil Kinnon allegedly got into an online spat with Attorney Scott Lucey.
According to court documents, the row took place on a Facebook page called “Malden (MA) Politics.”
The two men were supposedly on opposing sides of a zoning issue.
At one point, Kinnon allegedly posted the following comments:
I’m beginning to wonder if you are capable of reading. Might want to read again and anybody who would hire you to be their attorney God Bless them, because someone must have taken the Bar exam for you.
This comment–particularly the words “someone must have taken the Bar exam for your”–prompted Lucey to file a defamation lawsuit against Kinnon.
Kinnon filed a motion asking a superior court judge to dismiss the case.
The motion was granted and Lucey appealed.
Today the Appeals Court issued a slip opinion affirming the lawsuit’s dismissal.
According to the Appeals Court,
Kinnon’s statement is not actionable, because it cannot reasonably be understood as a statement of actual fact.
The justices went on to say,
Kinnon’s entire passage is rhetorical hyperbole, designed to insult but not state facts…This is not the stuff of a defamation claim.
The full text of the slip opinion is attached below.