According to a press release from the Thomas More Law Center (TMLC), it was toward the end of a long meeting January 20, 2026 that city council members considered the appointment of Eric Moore to the library board. Council member Joshua Paladino referenced an email he had obtained where Moore was ambiguous about having a standard for the library that refused any books that might be inappropriate for young people.
“He said that we should not create a system to determine what books were appropriate for children due to the threat of lawsuit,” said Paladino, reading from the email.
Moore apparently took that as a personal attack.
Richard Thompson, president and chief council of the TMLC, tells AFN that Moore sent Paladino a demand letter.
“If he did not retract his statement and publicly apologize, he would be sued for $25,000,” says Thompson.
The TMLC claims that this letter was a threat intended to silence an elective official as he was doing his job.
In response to the threat, Paladino asked Thomas More to represent him.
“I don’t know what the City Council will do, but I will not be bullied into silence or retract my constitutionally protected comments. Evaluating nominees for public boards is part of my sworn legislative duty. The people of Hillsdale deserve honest debate, not political intimidation,” said Paladino.
Thomson claims that the defamation charge is going nowhere.
“The unanimous Supreme Court held that local legislators are entitled to absolute immunity for their legislative activities,” states Thompson.
Thompson says that this is a Supreme Court precedent that makes sense.
“If legislators were always afraid of being sued because of something they said during the legislative session, it would kill their ability to honestly respond on behalf of the people,” says Thompson.
Moore has not responded to Thompson’s opinion that his defamation suit is a nonstarter.
