The Amanda Jones settlement refers to the November 2025 resolution of the Louisiana librarian’s defamation claim against one of her original co-defendants, Ryan Thames, who agreed to pay her one dollar and post a public video apology retracting what he had said about her online. Her larger defamation case against Citizens for a New Louisiana and its executive director, Michael Lunsford, did not settle. That case is now headed to a jury trial after the Louisiana Supreme Court denied the defendants’ writ on February 10, 2026.1Supreme Court of Louisiana. Amanda Jones v. Citizens for a New Louisiana, No. 2025-C-01341
What Ryan Thames Agreed To
Thames operated the “Bayou State of Mind” Facebook page, one of the accounts that circulated posts about Jones after she spoke at a July 2022 library board meeting. In early November 2025, he settled her claim against him for one dollar and a public apology, the same remedy Jones said she was seeking when she first filed suit.2School Library Journal. Defendant in Defamation Case Apologizes to Amanda Jones, Admits Statements Were Not True3Publishers Weekly. Louisiana Supreme Court Revives Librarian Amanda Jones’s Defamation Suit
In the video posted to his Facebook page, Thames said: “My name is Ryan Thames. I want to publicly apologize to Amanda Jones, a school librarian. I said that she advocates for giving age-inappropriate materials to children. I said that she advocated for the teaching of anal sex to 11-year-olds. Those statements were not true. Miss Jones has agreed to settle her lawsuit against me for $1 and an apology. I am grateful for the opportunity that she’s given me to resolve this issue. I genuinely apologize for the mental and physical pain my statements have caused her or her family.”2School Library Journal. Defendant in Defamation Case Apologizes to Amanda Jones, Admits Statements Were Not True
The Case Against Lunsford and Citizens for a New Louisiana Is Going to Trial
Thames was one of three defendants Jones sued in September 2022 in the 21st Judicial District Court in Livingston Parish. The other two, Michael Lunsford and his nonprofit Citizens for a New Louisiana, did not settle, and their part of the case took a much longer route through the appellate courts.4FindLaw. Amanda Jones v. Citizens for a New Louisiana, 2023 CA 0654
The trial court initially dismissed the suit under Louisiana’s anti-SLAPP statute in October 2022, calling the defendants’ statements opinion, treating Jones as a limited public figure who had not shown actual malice, and assessing $12,500 in attorney fees against her for Lunsford and Citizens for a New Louisiana and $13,000 for Thames.4FindLaw. Amanda Jones v. Citizens for a New Louisiana, 2023 CA 06545FindLaw. Amanda Jones v. Citizens for a New Louisiana, 2023 CA 0654 The First Circuit Court of Appeal then rejected her appeal on timing grounds in January 2024 without reaching the merits.6School Library Journal. Louisiana Court Allows Amanda Jones Defamation Case to Continue
The Louisiana Supreme Court reversed that ruling 4–2 on December 27, 2024, finding the appeals court had miscalculated the filing deadline and sending the case back for a merits review. In a concurrence, Justice Jefferson D. Hughes III wrote that the burden now rested on the defendants to prove the truth of their public accusations that Jones promoted pornography and advocated teaching anal sex to children.3Publishers Weekly. Louisiana Supreme Court Revives Librarian Amanda Jones’s Defamation Suit
On remand, the First Circuit reversed the original dismissal, holding that Jones had put forward enough evidence for a jury to decide whether some of the posts were defamatory and whether they were made “knowingly false or made with reckless disregard of the truth.”7The Advocate. Amanda Jones Defamation Lawsuit8School Library Journal. Louisiana Court Allows Amanda Jones Defamation Case to Continue Lunsford and Citizens for a New Louisiana asked the Supreme Court to intervene again. On February 10, 2026, the court unanimously denied the writ application, leaving the First Circuit’s decision in place and returning the case to the trial court.1Supreme Court of Louisiana. Amanda Jones v. Citizens for a New Louisiana, No. 2025-C-013419Livingston Parish News. Louisiana Supreme Court Allows Local Librarian’s Defamation Lawsuit Against Michael Lunsford to Proceed
According to Louisiana Voice, the denial also effectively nullified the attorney fees originally assessed against Jones, with fees and costs now owed to her by the defendants.10Louisiana Voice. Louisiana Supreme Court Deals Big Win for Amanda Jones
What the Lawsuit Was About
On July 19, 2022, Jones spoke at a Livingston Parish Library Board of Control meeting where a board member had placed an agenda item about relocating eight books, five of which contained LGBTQ themes. Then the president of the Louisiana Association of School Librarians and the 2021 School Librarian of the Year, Jones urged the board to trust its existing collection policies and told members that “no one on the right side of history has ever been on the side of censorship and hiding books.” The board took no action on the books that night.11Louisiana Illuminator. Livingston Library Board Members’ Inappropriate Book List Draws Vocal Opposition12Google Sites. Speaking Out
Within two days, the Facebook page for Citizens for a New Louisiana posted Jones’s picture with a caption asking why she was “fighting so hard to keep sexually erotic and pornographic materials in the kid’s section.” The “Bayou State of Mind” page run by Thames posted a meme identifying Jones by her Facebook name and school district. Dozens of posts and comments followed, labeling her a “pedophile” and a “groomer” who was “pushing pornography on children.”13Education Week. A School Librarian Pushes Back on Censorship and Gets Death Threats and Online Harassment
On August 14, 2022, Jones received an emailed death threat with the subject line “Alphabet Agenda.” She reported it to police, said she was “actually petrified,” and took a sabbatical during the spring 2023 semester because of the toll on her physical and mental health.14Oprah Daily. The Librarian Amanda Jones Book Bans13Education Week. A School Librarian Pushes Back on Censorship and Gets Death Threats and Online Harassment
The Separate Federal Case Against Dan Kleinman
The Thames settlement and the Lunsford case are only part of Jones’s litigation. On November 26, 2024, she filed federal defamation and false light suits in Louisiana and New Jersey against Dan Kleinman, a New Jersey blogger who operates the SafeLibraries blog and the X account @SexHarrassed. Jones alleged Kleinman called her a “groomer,” accused her of distributing “obscene material to children,” and claimed she carried a gun to defend herself against angry parents, and that he emailed her workplace, tagged her school and state legislators, and traveled to Louisiana to speak against her. The suits sought damages in excess of $75,000.15School Library Journal. Librarian Amanda Jones Files New Defamation Lawsuits16Publishers Weekly. Librarian Amanda Jones Files New Defamation Lawsuit
In September 2025, a federal judge in Louisiana transferred that case to the District of New Jersey, consolidating the litigation there.17GovInfo. Jones v. Kleinman, Case No. 24-972 The New Jersey case (No. 24-10750) remains pending. The court denied Jones’s motion to stay the case and has been considering a motion for voluntary dismissal under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 41(a)(2), fully briefed by April 2025 and not yet resolved on the record available.18CaseMine. Jones v. Kleinman, No. 24-10750-BRM-JSA