CHICAGO – A lawsuit that accused the makers of the television series The Sopranos of offending Italian Americans by depicting them as mobsters has been dropped.
The Italian-American Defense Association had filed the lawsuit against Time Warner Entertainment Co. under the "individual dignity" clause of the Illinois Constitution.
The group didn't seek a financial settlement or the HBO show's cancellation, but a declaration from a jury that the show offends the dignity of Italian Americans, association attorneys said.
Cook County Circuit Court Judge Richard Siebel dismissed the lawsuit with prejudice last September, ruling that the clause in the state's Constitution was merely advisory.
The Illinois Appellate Court upheld that ruling on Friday.
Time Warner's lawyer, Tom Yannucci, previously argued that viewers wouldn't assume from watching the show that all Italian Americans are mobsters or morally corrupt.
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