A prominent law professor has launched a claim against Above the Law, alleging the popular US legal blog of racially taunting him in a series of posts, writes the National Law Journal.

The case involves coverage of a prominent University of Miami School of Law professor and civil rights advocate Donald Marvin Jones, who was arrested on suspicion of soliciting an undercover officer for sex.

The blog, which is known for its irreverent style, covered the story in October 2007 with a series of posts about Jones, whom it dubbed "The Nutty Professor".

Jones alleges that the blog's coverage veered into racism, according to a lawsuit filed in federal court. He alleged that Above the Law portrayed him in a false light, invaded his privacy and infringed the university's copyright on his faculty photo. Jones is seeking $22m (£13m) in damages.

An online article about the arrest by David Lat, Above the Law's managing editor, "instigated its readers not only to read the post but also to join in what was clearly a viciously racist series of rants" directed at the African-American professor, the suit claims.

Jones did not respond on Monday (2 November) to calls for comment on the lawsuit, which he filed pro se in the US District Court for the Southern District of Florida on 27 October. The suit names Lat, Above the Law publisher David Minkin and parent company Dead Horse Media, now called Breaking Media, as defendants. Lat also declined to comment on the suit.

The incident that touched off the controversy occurred on 22 August 2007, when Miami police arrested Jones for allegedly attempting to offer an undercover officer $20 for sex, according to the police report. In his complaint, Jones protested his innocence.

Jones pleaded not guilty to the solicitation charge. Authorities later dropped the charge, and Jones' record was expunged – but not before Above the Law received a tip-off about his run-in with police.

On 17 October 2007, the blog ran a short post reporting Jones' arrest and arraignment on the solicitation charge – and that Jones teaches criminal procedure.

The following day, Above the Law posted the police incident report and noted that Jones had written a book called Race, Sex, and Suspicion: The Myth of the Black Male.

The blog revisited the situation on 25 October 2007, with a post noting that The Miami Herald ran a brief news report about Jones' arrest. Finally, on 29 October 2007, the blog ran a photographic collage submitted by someone claiming to be a University of Miami law student that depicted Jones apparently soliciting prostitutes outside a Miami market.

The collage included a picture of Jones' face transposed onto a $20 bill. On the site, Lat referred to the collage as "irreverent, crass, and politically incorrect humour".

The same post contained the following disclaimer: "We acknowledge that he merely stands accused on wrongdoing; he hasn't been convicted of anything."

Jones argued in his lawsuit that the posts were misleading and racist.

"This is the equivalent of creating a billboard on a highway depicting professor Jones as a criminal and a 'nut'," the suit reads.

The suit alleged that the blog unlawfully used a photo of Jones taken from the University of Miami School of Law website.

In addition to monetary damages, Jones asked the court to force Above the Law to remove all the posts that refer to Jones.

The National Law Journal is a US sister title of Legal Week.

Click here for more international coverage