Lawyers for Tampa Bay Buccaneers Quarterback Jameis Winston are threatening to sue CNN. The move stems from that network’s screening of a documentary about sexual assault on college campuses.
The Hunting Ground features Erica Kinsman, who accuses Winston of raping her while both were students. Lawyers for Winston say the film is defamatory and false. But Peter Lake, from Stetson’s College of Law says these cases aren’t new, and they’re not often successful.
“The system is really set up to protect the media’s First Amendment right to broadcast on issues of public importance, critically those relating to public figures,” he said.
Lake adds these attempts to restrict information often have the opposite effect. The Hunting Ground features multiple sexual assault victims and implicates universities nationwide, including Florida State University, for their handling of sexual assault cases.
