Steve would be considered a public figure since heтАЩs started giving speeches.
The Wiki article on that case says: тАЬThe Supreme Court has since extended Sullivan's higher legal standard for defamation to all "public figures". This has made it extremely difficult for a public figure to win a defamation lawsuit in the United States.тАЭ
With a public figure, need to show тАЬactual maliceтАЭ or тАЬreckless disregardтАЭ for the truth. Higher threshold for sure, but happens all the time. The bigger question is whether itтАЩs worth it.
I believe the Atlanta newspaper tried to claim Richard Jewell, the hero of the '96 Atlanta Olympics [edit: because he'd been interviewed on TV], was a public figure during his defamation suit, which he finally lost in 2011, four years after his death. Everyone else settled.
Very hard to prove in the US given the First Amendment.
As interpreted by SCOTUS in NYT v. Sullivan
Steve would be considered a public figure since heтАЩs started giving speeches.
The Wiki article on that case says: тАЬThe Supreme Court has since extended Sullivan's higher legal standard for defamation to all "public figures". This has made it extremely difficult for a public figure to win a defamation lawsuit in the United States.тАЭ
With a public figure, need to show тАЬactual maliceтАЭ or тАЬreckless disregardтАЭ for the truth. Higher threshold for sure, but happens all the time. The bigger question is whether itтАЩs worth it.
I believe the Atlanta newspaper tried to claim Richard Jewell, the hero of the '96 Atlanta Olympics [edit: because he'd been interviewed on TV], was a public figure during his defamation suit, which he finally lost in 2011, four years after his death. Everyone else settled.