Libel-proof plaintiffs

The United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit held last week in Lamb v. Rizzo that a one-time Kansas State Penitentiary escapee who was convicted of kidnapping and murder was libel proof with respect to alleged falsehoods written by a newspaper reporter about the convict's crimes.

The Tenth Circuit described "libel proof" this way:

when a plaintiff's reputation is so diminished at the time of publication of the allegedly defamatory material that only nominal damages at most could be awarded because the person's reputation was not capable of sustaining further harm, the plaintiff is deemed to be libel-proof as a matter of law and is not permitted to burden a defendant with a trial.