South Carolina school board member sues 2 critics for libel

IRMO, S.C. (AP) — A South Carolina school board member has filed libel lawsuits against two district residents connected to a Facebook group that has been critical of the member.

The State of Columbia reports that Lexington-Richland 5 Vice Chair Ken Loveless is suing Kevin Scully and Leslie Stiles. Scully has made critical comments about Loveless in a Facebook group called Deep Dive into D5. Stiles administers the Facebook Group.

Both suits were filed in Richland County last week. Stiles declined comment, while Scully could not be reached. A lawyer for Loveless said he wouldn't comment beyond the court filings.

Loveless alleges that Scully, husband of a teacher in the 17,000-student suburban Columbia district has made “numerous and repeated defamatory statements voluntarily published on the internet... with specific knowledge they were false and/or with a reckless disregard for whether they were false or not.”

Among the comments cited in the lawsuit is “Crooked Ken is an unethical hypocrite and a liar.”

Loveless’ suit claims the statements were “made with actual malice, and with an intent to harm the reputation of Loveless.”

In the second lawsuit, Loveless claims Stiles is also liable because she made comments herself and approved posts critical of Loveless by Scully and others.

The Scully lawsuit cites several comments attributed to him, including “This is what you get with an incompetent, micromanaging board majority and an ineffective and weak superintendent,” and “The board seems to be more concerned with settling personal vendettas than taking care of our district.”

The State could not independently confirm the comments attributed to Scully on Facebook.

Some comments cited as libelous in the lawsuit reference...