Scott Miller v. Kshama Sawant

FOR PUBLICATION

UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS

FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT

SCOTT MILLER, an individual; No. 21-35004 MICHAEL SPAULDING, an individual, Plaintiffs-Appellants, D.C. No. 2:18-cv-00506- v. MJP

KSHAMA SAWANT, an individual, Defendant-Appellee, OPINION

and

CITY OF SEATTLE, a municipal corporation, Defendant.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Western District of Washington Marsha J. Pechman, District Judge, Presiding

Argued and Submitted October 4, 2021 Seattle, Washington

Filed November 10, 2021 Before: A. Wallace Tashima, Milan D. Smith, Jr., and Jacqueline H. Nguyen, Circuit Judges.

Opinion by Judge Tashima

SUMMARY*

Defamation

The panel reversed the district court’s dismissal of an action brought by Seattle police officers who alleged they were defamed by Defendant Kshama Sawant, a member of the Seattle City Council, through comments Sawant made about a deadly police shooting in which Plaintiffs were involved.

The district court dismissed Plaintiffs’ defamation claims on the ground that their third amended complaint failed adequately to allege that Sawant’s remarks were “of and…