Opinion ID: 1418556
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: the common law of defamation

Text: At common law, liability for defamation, oral or written, was a strict liability. In broad outline the tort of defamation occurred, with resulting liability for damages, when (1) the statement was false, (2) the statement was defamatory of the plaintiff, and (3) the statement was communicated, i.e., published through someone other than the person defamed. Even if defamation occurred as a result of the concurrence of the three elements of the tort, the plaintiff might still be without remedy. The defendant could claim two types of defenses: truth or privilege. The defendant had the burden of proving the truth of the defamatory statement and, if proved, the defendant had a complete defense. Privileges were of two kinds, absolute and conditional, i.e., defeasible. There were four absolute privileges: (1) for legislators during debate, (2) for persons involved in legal proceedings, (3) for persons in executive government offices making authorized communications in the performance of their duties, and (4) when plaintiff consented to the defamation. Conditional privileges were of six kinds: (1) publication to advance a legitimate interest of the publisher, recipient or other third person, (2) discussion by a group having a lawful mutual interest for the advancement of that interest, (3) publication to proper persons if in the public interest, (4) publication and exercise of an individual's right to verbal self-defense, (5) reports of proceedings of public interest if the report was accurate, and (6) fair comment upon facts relating to public figures and public issues, provided those facts were either true or also subject to a privilege. Conditional privileges were distinguished from absolute privileges in that they were available only if defendant had the proper intent. If plaintiff showed the remarks were maliciously published out of ill will for the plaintiff, this would defeat a conditional privilege. Particular conditional privileges might also be lost if they were abused in other ways, such as by disbelief by the defendant in his own opinions (fair comment), excessive vehemence in the defamation, or unnecessary communication of the remarks to a person who had no legitimate interest in them. At common law, damages recoverable in Washington were classified as either general or special. The malice or good faith of the defendant was irrelevant to the damage recovery. If the remark was a defamation per se, i.e., defamatory on its face, general damages were recoverable without proof of injury. General damages were those the law presumed to be the natural and probable consequence of the defendant's conduct. They were of three kinds: (1) for injury to plaintiff's reputation, (2) for the falling off of his business or patronage, and (3) for wounded feelings and humiliation. Special compensatory damages might also be recovered if alleged in the pleadings and proved by the evidence. If the defamation was not defamatory per se, special damages only were recoverable. Exemplary damages were not recoverable in Washington. See generally Comment, An Outline of the Law of Libel in Washington, 30 Wash. L. Rev. 36 (1955); Gertz v. Robert Welch, Inc., supra at 369-75 (White, J., dissenting); Restatement of Torts §§ 558-81 (1938); 1 F. Harper & F. James, Law of Torts ch. 5 (1956); W. Prosser, Handbook of the Law of Torts ch. 19 (4th ed. 1971).