Welcome to The Press Room, a weekly roundup of the major stories and happenings of the 2023 Delaware legislative year.
This week’s edition focuses on a major weed vote in the state Senate, the upcoming defamation lawsuit against Fox News and a look into who I think are some of the most influential Delawareans.
As always, send story tips, feedback, ideas or gossip to me at mnewman@delawareonline.com.
Follow me on Twitter at @MereNewman.
Delaware Senate poised to pass recreational marijuana bills
The Delaware Senate is expected to vote on both recreational marijuana bills Tuesday. It will be the biggest vote of the legislative session so far – and could set lawmakers up for another fight with Gov. John Carney.
Just a refresher: After years of pitfalls and missing votes, the House earlier this month passed two marijuana bills: One legalizes the “personal use quantity” of marijuana, which varies by cannabis form, for people ages 21 and older. The other creates and regulates a recreational marijuana industry.
Last year, the House and the Senate passed legislation to legalize marijuana. But it was blocked by Carney’s veto. The House attempted to overturn the veto but ultimately failed.
This will be the first time the Senate will vote on the regulation bill, which requires a three-fifths vote. Last year, it narrowly failed in the House after a key lawmaker missed the vote due to an illness.
Both bills are expected to pass the Senate, in which Democrats have a supermajority. It will be interesting to see if there is any Republican support this time around. No Republican senators voted for the legalization bill last year.
The real question is: Will Carney blow it all up?
Most influential politicos in Delaware
What a perfect transition to highlight our annual list of the most influential Delawareans.
My category was politics. For the most influential person, I chose Gov. Carney. You can read why here.
I did my best to pick a diverse group of people, including people you might know and people you might not. I know there are people I accidentally overlooked. Who did I miss? Who should I be paying attention to?
If you submit yourself… honestly, respect.
The important role Delaware plays in the $1.6 billion lawsuit against Fox News
A Delaware Superior Court judge is set to decide if the $1.6 billion defamation lawsuit Dominion Voting Systems filed against Fox News and Fox Corp. will head to trial.
Superior Court Judge Eric Davis last week heard oral arguments from Dominion Voting Systems and Fox News and Corp. for summary judgment on whether the lawsuit should go to trial on April 17. Dominion and Fox are both looking for the judge to make a decision on the case and avoid going to trial.
Davis plans to make a ruling before the scheduled trial. I was there with about a dozen other national reporters. It set up a preview of how each side might present its case before a jury.
If this does go to trial, 12 Delawareans could decide one of the most consequential defamation cases in years. It also will be one of the highest profile cases Delaware will host in a very long time.
Fox lawsuit:Dominion Voting sues Fox for $1.6 billion over false 2020 election fraud claims
Right-wing media lawsuits: Dominion sues OAN, Newsmax, ex-Overstock CEO Patrick Byrne for $1.6 billion over voter fraud claims
Giuliani lawsuit: Dominion Voting Systems sues Rudy Giuliani for $1.3B alleging defamation for election comments
Powell lawsuit: Dominion Voting Systems files $1.3B defamation suit against ex-Trump lawyer Sidney Powell
Dominion argued that documents show how top Fox executives and hosts privately communicated that they did not believe then-President Donald Trump’s election fraud allegations, yet continued to give airtime to these claims.
One of the company’s lawyers is Rodney Smolla, a former Widener University Delaware Law School dean.
Fox lawyers insist the network and corporation are protected under the First Amendment, arguing that a “reasonable viewer” would understand that Fox hosts did not present these claims to be fact but rather allegations made by Trump associates.
Similar to Joe Biden running for president in 2020, the trial could make Wilmington the (brief) center of the media universe.
