The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) is facing renewed public scrutiny, as a federal judge considers whether a defamation lawsuit against the far-left group will proceed to trial.
The lawsuit was originally filed in 2022 by the late D.A. King, founder of the Dustin Inman Society (DIS), a pro-border security group. King accused SPLC of defaming DIS by labeling it an “anti-immigrant hate group” and including it on the group’s controversial “hate map,” CatholicVote reported in 2023.
SPLC’s “hate map” lumps conservative groups like the Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) and Family Research Council (FRC) on the same list as the Ku Klux Klan. The group has come under fire for smearing religious and pro-life groups, as well as labeling traditional Catholics as extremists.
In May, the SPLC filed a summary judgment motion asking US District Judge W. Keith Watkins to dismiss the case. SPLC argued that its “hate group” labels are constitutionally protected opinion, rather than factual assertions.
Responding to SPLC’s motion, DIS’s legal team filed a June brief highlighting SPLC’s contradictory stance.
“Not once in its publications concerning DIS did SPLC qualify its statements as matters of opinion,” the DIS June brief notes. “To the contrary, SPLC spoke with authority, backing its factual statements with its ‘intelligence,’ ‘investigation,’ and ‘expert analysis.’”
Tyler O’Neil, managing editor at The Daily Signal and longtime SPLC critic, called out the group’s legal strategy in a July 7 column.
“How can a leftist group present itself as the authority on ‘hate groups’ in public, touting the fact that police and even the FBI have relied on its materials,” O’Neil asked, “and then reverse course when challenged in court, claiming that its statements are unprovable ‘opinion’ rather than expert statements of fact?”
Watkins has not yet ruled on SPLC’s summary judgment motion. If denied, the case would proceed to trial, putting SPLC’s “hate map” under legal scrutiny for the first time.
“Watkins should reject the SPLC’s slimy motion and let The Dustin Inman Society get its day in court,” O’Neil wrote. “The public deserves to see just how shameless this leftist smear factory truly is.”