On Aug. 8, the Circuit Clerk’s Office received confirmation that the Illinois Appellate Court affirmed the summary judgment for Darin LaHood, the Peoria County Republican Central Committee, and Aaron Schock. They were sued for libel in 2015 by Richard Burns for the contents of a campaign mailer sent to Peoria County voters when Burns ran as a Democrat against Peoria County Board member Brad Harding in 2014.

“The material submitted was insufficient to establish a triable issue on the question of actual malice with respect to those defendants,” wrote Justice James Knecht in his order.

Circuit Judge Michael Risinger in April 2022 found that Burns “could not prove defendants made the alleged defamatory statements with actual malice.

“To establish actual malice, a plaintiff must ‘prove by clear and convincing evidence that the defendant published the defamatory statements with knowledge that the statements were false or with reckless disregard for their truth or falsity.’ ”

Although the defendants conceded that the contents mostly stemmed from unverified rumors, the court didn’t consider that reckless.

“This disposition should not be construed as providing any opinion on the truth or falsity of those allegations,” Knecht wrote.