Shirley Sherrod, the former Department of Agriculture official, will sue the blogger who posted her comments out of context. See report. Good for her. The report does not explain what the suit will be based on. But, I would expect she could sue him for defamation or "false light" defemation. The blogger, Andrew Breitbart, is said to be supported by the Washington Times.
Key to a defamation suit would be whether Ms. Sherrod is considered to be a "public figure." Since she spoke at the NAACP convention in Georgia, she might qualify as a public figure. If she is a public figure, then she would have to show actual malice on the part of the blogger. Proving actual malice is difficult.
Everyone from the administration to Bill O’Reilly have now apologized for what they said about Ms. Sherrod. See story. Ms. Sherrod believes we can heal our racial differences, but we need to confront those differences.