Federal Judge Allows Defamation Lawsuit Against Best-Selling Economist to Proceed

By DAVID GLENN

In a ruling that might make scholars a bit more wary of pressing the "send" button, a federal judge has allowed the economist John R. Lott Jr.'s defamation lawsuit against his rival Steven D. Levitt to proceed.

When Mr. Levitt criticized Mr. Lott's conduct in a private e-mail message to a colleague in 2005, Mr....