Judge throws out Katie Hill’s lawsuit against Daily Mail over nude photos

A Los Angeles judge has the former Rep. Katie HillKatherine (Katie) Lauren Hill Katie Hill: Gaetz ‘should be held accountable’ as sexual allegations where his Christy Smith launches convention campaign and staged rematch for the competitive California House seat Obamas to attend Biden’s inauguration MORE‘s (D-Calif.) lawsuit against the Daily Mail over the publication of nude photos of her on the website.

Hill filed suit against the news outlet and Salem Media Group, which owns the conservative blog RedState, which claims their publication of nude photos of her in 2019 constituted “ consensual porn. ”

She further claimed that the news outlets were not entitled to the First Amendment to “sexually humiliate and expose public officials.”

The suit specifically named Salem Media Group Inc., Mail Media Inc. and Hill’s ex-husband, Kenny Heslep.

Judge Yolanda Orozco sided with the Daily Mail on Wednesday, saying the photos were a matter of public concern, according to The Orange County Register.

Here, the intimate images published by (the Daily Mail) spoke of (Hill’s) character and qualifications for her position, as they would have depicted (Hill) with a campaign executive with whom she allegedly had a sexual affair and with which she reportedly show (Hill) a then illegal drug and with a tattoo that was controversial because it resembled a white supremacy symbol that had become a problem during her convention campaign, ”Orozco wrote according to the paper.

Hill, who represented California’s 25th congressional district, resigned in October 2019 amid allegations that she had improper relationships with convention and campaign officials. This came after the Daily Mail published photos that supposedly belonged to Hill after the allegations, previously reported by RedState, citing text messages from Heslep.

Hill quashed Wednesday’s ruling on Twitter, saying that “we lost in court because a judge – not a jury – thinks revenge porn is freedom of speech. This fight has huge implications for any woman who ever wants to run, so quitting is not an option. “

Carrie Goldberg, a Hill attorney, suggested on Twitter that they would appeal the ruling, saying that “DM said, and the court agreed, that Katie’s nudes were their free speech. We think the court of profession will disagree. ”

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