McGuire v. Bowlin
Annotate this Case
In this defamation action brought by Nathan McGuire, a public high school basketball head coach, against Julie Bowlin and three other defendants, the Supreme Court reversed the decision of the district court granting summary judgment to Bowlin solely on the basis of McGuire's status as a public official, holding that McGuire was neither a public official nor a public figure.
McGuire filed this complaint alleging that Defendants had engaged in defamation and a civil conspiracy and that Bowlin had filed false maltreatment-of-minor reports. The district court dismissed all claims against all defendants. The court of appeals affirmed. On appeal, McGuire argued that he was not a public official for the purposes of his defamation claims. The Supreme Court affirmed the court of appeals' decision regarding the three defendants but reversed the decision with respect to the defamation claim against Bowlin, holding (1) McGuire was not a public official and therefore, the district court erred when it granted summary judgment on that basis; and (2) further, McGuire was not a limited-purpose public figure.
Some case metadata and case summaries were written with the help of AI, which can produce inaccuracies. You should read the full case before relying on it for legal research purposes.
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.