Source: https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/419/245/
Timestamp: 2019-04-24 08:49:37+00:00

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Justia › US Law › US Case Law › US Supreme Court › Volume 419 › Cantrell v. Forest City Publishing Co.
Knowing falsehoods regarding a matter of public concern are not protected under the First Amendment, and a media outlet can be sued for invasion of privacy in this situation.
After a bridge collapsed, killing Cantrell's husband among others, Forest City Publishing investigated the accident. One of its reporters went to the Cantrell home to interview the family on the effect of the father's death. Cantrell was not home at the time, so the reporter interviewed and took pictures of the children. The reporter did not interview Cantrell at any other time before the story appeared. It included an alleged interview with an description of Cantrell, among other factual flaws.
Cantrell argued that the article had invaded her privacy by casting her children and her in a false light. After the trial judge dismissed the punitive damages request, the jury found for Cantrell based on an instruction that it could find liability based on a reckless disregard for the truth. The appellate court reversed the jury verdict on the grounds that dismissing the punitive damages issue because there was no actual malice meant that the entire claim should be dismissed because actual malice was necessary to show liability for any damages.
Ruling that the trial judge properly instructed the jury, Stewart found that the use of "malice" in the lower court was in a different sense from its meaning as applied to defamation cases. The jury did not act unreasonably in finding that the defendant knew that parts of the story were false and nevertheless published them, showing a reckless disregard for the truth.
When considered together with other cases involving the same tort, the decision shows that actual malice or gross recklessness rather than ordinary negligence is required to establish a cause of action for invasion of privacy.
Petitioners, a mother and her son, brought a diversity action against respondents, a newspaper publisher and a reporter, for invasion of privacy based on a feature story in the newspaper discussing the impact upon petitioners' family of the death of the father in a bridge collapse. The story concededly contained a number of inaccuracies and false statements about the family. The District Judge struck the claims for punitive damages for lack of evidence of malice "within the legal definition of that term," but allowed the case to go to the jury on the "false light" theory of invasion of privacy, after instructing the jurors that liability could be imposed only if they found that the false statements were published with knowledge of their falsity or in reckless disregard of the truth, and the jury returned a verdict for compensatory damages. The Court of Appeals reversed, holding that the District Judge should have directed a verdict for respondents, since his finding of no malice in striking the punitive damages claims was based on the definition of "actual malice" established in New York Times Co. v. Sullivan, 376 U. S. 254, and thus was a determination that there was no evidence of the knowing falsity or reckless disregard of the truth required for liability.
Held: The Court of Appeals erred in setting aside the jury's verdict. Pp. 419 U. S. 251-254.
(a) The record discloses that the District Judge, when he dismissed the punitive damages claims, was not referring to the New York Times "actual malice" standard, but to the common law standard of malice that is generally required under state tort law to support an award of punitive damages, and that, in a "false light" case, would focus on the defendant's attitude toward the plaintiff's privacy, and not on the truth or falsity of the material published, and thus was not determining that petitioners had failed to introduce evidence of knowing falsity or reckless disregard of the truth. Pp. 419 U. S. 251-252.
(b) Moreover, the evidence was sufficient to support jury findings that respondents had published knowing or reckless falsehoods about petitioners, particularly with respect to "calculated falsehoods" about petitioner mother's being present when the story was being prepared, and that respondent reporter's writing of the story was within the scope of his employment at the newspaper so as to render respondent publisher vicariously liable under respondeat superior for the knowing falsehoods in the story. Pp. 419 U. S. 252-254.
484 F.2d 150, reversed and remanded.
STEWART, J., delivered the opinion of the Court, in which BURGER, C.J., and BRENNAN, WHITE, MARSHALL, BLACKMUN, POWELL, and REHNQUIST, JJ., joined. DOUGLAS, J., filed a dissenting opinion, post, p. 419 U. S. 254.
as to Mrs. Cantrell and her oldest son, William. The jury returned a verdict against all three of the respondents for compensatory money damages in favor of these two plaintiffs.
The Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit reversed, holding that, in the light of the First and Fourteenth Amendments, the District Judge should have granted the respondents' motion for a directed verdict as to all the Cantrells' claims. 484 F.2d 150. We granted certiorari, 418 U.S. 909.
In December, 1967, Margaret Cantrell's husband Melvin was killed along with 43 other people when the Silver Bridge across the Ohio River at Point Pleasant, W.Va. collapsed. The respondent Eszterhas was assigned by the Plain Dealer to cover the story of the disaster. He wrote a "news feature" story focusing on the funeral of Melvin Cantrell and the impact of his death on the Cantrell family.
Five months later, after conferring with the Sunday Magazine editor of the Plain Dealer, Eszterhas and photographer Conway returned to the Point Pleasant area to write a follow-up feature. The two men went to the Cantrell residence, where Eszterhas talked with the children and Conway took 50 pictures. Mrs. Cantrell was not at home at any time during the 60 to 90 minutes that the men were at the Cantrell residence.
illustrate the impact of the bridge collapse on the lives of the people in the Point Pleasant area.
"Margaret Cantrell will talk neither about what happened nor about how they are doing. She wears the same mask of non-expression she wore at the funeral. She is a proud woman. Her world has changed. She says that, after it happened, the people in town offered to help them out with money, and they refused to take it. [Footnote 1]"
Other significant misrepresentations were contained in details of Eszterhas' descriptions of the poverty in which the Cantrells were living and the dirty and dilapidated conditions of the Cantrell home.
"false reports of matters of public interest in the absence of proof that the defendant published the report with knowledge of its falsity or in reckless disregard of the truth."
385 U.S. at 385 U. S. 388. Although the jury could have reasonably concluded from the evidence in the Hill case that Life had engaged in knowing falsehood or had recklessly disregarded the truth in stating in the article that "the story reenacted" the Hill family's experience, the Court concluded that the trial judge's instructions had not confined the jury to such a finding as a predicate for liability as required by the Constitution. Id. at 385 U. S. 394.
announced in Time, Inc. v. Hill applies to all false light cases. Cf. Gertz v. Robert Welch, Inc., 418 U. S. 323. Rather, the sole question that we need decide is whether the Court of Appeals erred in setting aside the jury's verdict.
At the close of the petitioners' case-in-chief, the District Judge struck the demand for punitive damages. He found that Mrs. Cantrell had failed to present any evidence to support the charges that the invasion of privacy "was done maliciously within the legal definition of that term." The Court of Appeals interpreted this finding to be a determination by the District Judge that there was no evidence of knowing falsity or reckless disregard of the truth introduced at the trial. Having made such a determination, the Court of Appeals held that the District Judge should have granted the motion for a directed verdict for respondents as to all the Cantrells' claims. 484 F.2d at 155.
such, it is quite different from the common law standard of "malice" generally required under state tort law to support an award of punitive damages. In a false light case, common law malice -- frequently expressed in terms of either personal ill will toward the plaintiff or reckless or wanton disregard of the plaintiff's rights -- -would focus on the defendant's attitude toward the plaintiff's privacy, not toward the truth or falsity of the material published. See Time, Inc. v. Hill, 385 U.S. at 385 U. S. 396 n. 12. See generally W. Prosser, Law of Torts 9-10 (4th ed.).
Although the verbal record of the District Court proceedings is not entirely unambiguous, the conclusion is inescapable that the District Judge was referring to the common law standard of malice, rather than to the New York Times "actual malice" standard, when he dismissed the punitive damages claims. For at the same time that he dismissed the demands for punitive damages, the District Judge refused to grant the respondents' motion for directed verdicts as to Mrs. Cantrell's and William's claims for compensatory damages. And, as his instructions to the jury made clear, the District Judge was fully aware that the Time, Inc. v. Hill meaning of the New York Times "actual malice" standard had to be satisfied for the Cantrells to recover actual damages. Thus, the only way to harmonize these two virtually simultaneous rulings by the District Judge is to conclude, contrary to the decision of the Court of Appeals, that, in dismissing the punitive damages claims, he was not determining that Mrs. Cantrell had failed to introduce any evidence of knowing falsity or reckless disregard of the truth. This conclusion is further fortified by the District Judge's subsequent denial of the respondents' motion for judgment n.o.v. and alternative motion for a new trial.
to support a jury finding that the respondents Joseph Eszterhas and Forest City Publishing Co. had published knowing or reckless falsehoods about the Cantrells. [Footnote 5] There was no dispute during the trial that Eszterhas, who did not testify, must have known that a number of the statements in the feature story were untrue. In particular, his article plainly implied that Mrs. Cantrell had been present during his visit to her home, and that Eszterhas had observed her "wear[ing] the same mask of nonexpression she wore [at her husband's] funeral." These were "calculated falsehoods," and the jury was plainly justified in finding that Eszterhas had portrayed the Cantrells in a false light through knowing or reckless untruth.
assigned by the Plain Dealer to write for the Sunday Magazine, the editor of the magazine testified that, as a staff writer for the Plain Dealer, Eszterhas frequently suggested stories he would like to write for the magazine. When Eszterhas suggested the follow-up article on the Silver Bridge disaster, the editor approved the idea and told Eszterhas the magazine would publish the feature if it was good. From this evidence, the jury could reasonably conclude that Forest City Publishing Co., publisher of the Plain Dealer, should be held vicariously liable for the damage caused by the knowing falsehoods contained in Eszterhas' story.
For the foregoing reasons, the judgment of the Court of Appeals is reversed and the case is remanded to that court with directions to enter a judgment affirming the judgment of the District Court as to the respondents Forest City Publishing Co. and Joseph Eszterhas.
Eszterhas, Legacy of the Silver Bridge, the Plain Dealer Sunday Magazine, Aug. 4, 1968, p. 32, col. 1.
Although this is a diversity action based on state tort law, there is remarkably little discussion of the relevant Ohio or West Virginia law by the District Court, the Court of Appeals, and counsel for the parties. It is clear, however, that both Ohio and West Virginia recognize a legally protected interest in privacy. E.g., Housh v. Peth, 165 Ohio St. 35, 133 N.E.2d 340; Roach v. Harper, 143 W.Va. 869, 105 S.E.2d 564; Sutherland v. Kroger Co., 144 W.Va. 673, 110 S.E.2d 716. Publicity that places the plaintiff in a false light in the public eye is generally recognized as one of the several distinct kinds of invasions actionable under the privacy rubric. See Prosser, Privacy, 48 Calif. L Rev. 383, 398-401; Restatement (Second) of Torts § 652E (Tent.Draft No. 13).
"[T]he constitutional protection for speech and press preclude[s] redress for false reports of matters of public interest in the absence of proof that the defendants published the report with knowledge of its falsity or in reckless disregard of the truth."
"Thus, in this case, the burden of proof is upon the plaintiffs to prove by a preponderance of the evidence their assertions of an invasion of privacy, the elements of which are:"
"(1) An unwarranted and/or wrongful intrusion by the defendants into their private or personal affairs with which the public had no legitimate concern."
"(2) Publishing a report or article about plaintiff with knowledge of its falsity or in reckless disregard of the truth"
"(3) Defendants' acts of publishing a report or article about plaintiffs with knowledge of its falsity or in reckless disregard of the truth caused plaintiffs injury as individuals of ordinary sensibilities and damage in the form of outrage or mental suffering, shame or humiliation."
"Thus, if it be your conclusion and determination that plaintiffs have failed to prove by a preponderance of the evidence that defendants invaded the [plaintiffs'] privacy by publishing a report or article about them with knowledge of its falsity or in reckless disregard of the truth, you need not deliberate further and you will return a verdict in favor of the defendants."
"An act is knowingly done if done voluntarily and intentionally and not because of mistake or accident or other innocent reason."
"Recklessness implies a higher degree of culpability than negligence. Recklessly means wantonly, with indifference to consequence."
In Time, Inc. v. Hill, 385 U. S. 374, the Court did not employ this term of art. Instead, the Court repeated the actual standard of knowing or reckless falsehood at every relevant point. See, e.g., id. at 385 U. S. 388, 385 U. S. 390, 385 U. S. 394.
Although we conclude that the jury verdicts should have been sustained as to Eszterhas and Forest City Publishing Co., we agree with the Court of Appeals' conclusion that there was insufficient evidence to support the jury's verdict against the photographer Conway. Conway testified that the photographs he took were fair and accurate depictions of the people and scenes he found at the Cantrell residence. This testimony was not contradicted by any other evidence introduced at the trial. Nor was there any evidence that Conway was in any way responsible for the inaccuracies and misstatements contained in the text of the article written by Eszterhas. In short, Conway simply was not shown to have participated in portraying the Cantrells in a false light.
"Any act of an employee or agent, to become the act of the corporation, must be performed by the employee while acting within the scope of his employment."
"The Court charges you as a matter of law that, before any acts or knowledge of Joseph Eszterhas or Richard T. Conway may be imputed to the defendant, Forest City Publishing Company, the plaintiffs must prove by a preponderance of the evidence that defendant, Forest City Publishing Company, had actual knowledge of those acts and information or that Conway and Eszterhas were acting within the scope of their employment when they performed the acts or acquired the information."
None of the parties objected to this instruction.
and Fourteenth Amendments by what we do today. This line of cases, which of course includes New York Times Co v. Sullivan, 376 U. S. 254 (1964), seems to me to place First Amendment rights of the press at a midway point similar to what our ill-fated Betts v. Brady, 316 U. S. 455 (1942), did to the right to counsel. The press will be "free" in the First Amendment sense when the judge-made qualifications of that freedom are withdrawn and the substance of the First Amendment restored to what I believe was the purpose of its enactment.
A bridge accident catapulted the Cantrells into the public eye, and their disaster became newsworthy. To make the First Amendment freedom to report the news turn on subtle differences between common law malice and actual malice is to stand the Amendment on its head. Those who write the current news seldom have the objective, dispassionate point of view -- or the time -- of scientific analysts. They deal in fast-moving events, and the need for "spot" reporting. The jury under today's formula sits as a censor with broad powers -- not to impose a prior restraint, but to lay heavy damages on the press. The press is "free" only if the jury is sufficiently disenchanted with the Cantrells to let the press be free of this damages claim. That regime is thought by some to be a way of supervising the press which is better than not supervising it at all. But the installation of the Court's regime would require a constitutional amendment. Whatever might be the ultimate reach of the doctrine Mr. Justice Black and I have embraced, it seems clear that, in matters of public import such as the present news reporting, there must be freedom from damages lest the press be frightened into playing a more ignoble role than the Framers visualized.
Margaret Mae Cantrell, et al.
Forest City Publishing Company, et al.

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