Continuing to publish accurate arrest stories after a criminal conviction has been erased from the record is not libelous, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit ruled Wednesday.

Plaintiff Lorraine Martin sued three newspapers and a television news station in Connecticut for refusing to remove from their websites reports on her 2010 marijuana arrest after the charges were erased under the state's Criminal Records Erasure Statute.

The statute, §54-142a, states that when charges against an individual are nolled or dismissed, a defendant is “deemed to have never been arrested.”