Opinion ID: 198846
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Common law and constitutional principles

Text: 39 A common law claim of defamation under Maine law requires: (a) a false and defamatory statement concerning another; (b) an unprivileged publication to a third party; (c) fault amounting to at least negligence on the part of the publisher; and (d) either actionability of the statement irrespective of special harm or the existence of special harm caused by the publication. See Lester v. Powers, 596 A.2d 65, 69 (Me. 1991) (citing Restatement (Second) of Torts 558). 40 Under Maine law, a statement is defamatory if it tends so to harm the reputation of another as to lower him in the estimation of the community or todeter third persons from associating or dealing with him. Bakal v. Weare, 583 A.2d 1028, 1029 (Me. 1990). Allegedly defamatory language must be construed in the light of what might reasonably have been understood therefrom by the persons who [heard] it. Marston v. Newavom, 629 A.2d 587, 592 (Me. 1993). A defamation claim may not be based solely on a reading that interprets the language in the most negative way possible. See Bakal, 583 A.2d at 1030. 41 The Supreme Court of the United States has determined that the federal constitution imposes certain requirements on defamation actions independent of those established by the state's own law. See generally Milkovich v. Lorain Journal Co., 497 U.S. 1, 11-17 (1990). First, where the statements are uttered by a media defendant and involve matters of public concern, the plaintiff must shoulder the burden of proving the falsity of each statement. See Philadelphia Newspapers, Inc. v. Hepps, 475 U.S. 767, 776 (1986). Second, only statements that are provable as false are actionable; hyperbole and expressions of opinion unprovable as false are constitutionally protected. See Milkovich, 497 U.S. at 19-20; Levinsky's, 127 F.3d at 127. Third, private individuals must prove fault amounting at least to negligence on the part of a media defendant, at least as to matters of public concern. See Gertz v. Robert Welch, Inc., 418 U.S. 323, 347 (1974); see also Levinsky's, 127 F.3d at 128 n.4; Restatement (Second) of Torts 580B cmt. c. Fourth, a private plaintiff must prove actual malice to recover presumed and punitive damages for a statement involving public concern. Levinsky's, 127 F.3d at 128 (citing Dun & Bradstreet, Inc. v. Greenmoss Builders, Inc., 472 U.S. 749, 756-57 (1985)). Insofar as the jury's verdict raises questions of compliance with these constitutionally-mandated elements, it warrants independent review. 7 See Harte-Hanks Communications, Inc. v. Connaughton, 491 U.S. 657, 685 (1989). 42 Before turning to the broadcast statements themselves, we note that as each related to the risks that long-distance truckers pose to other drivers on the nation's highways, they unquestionably involved a matter of public concern. It was therefore plaintiffs' constitutional burden to show the falsity of each statement, and our duty, on appeal, to independently verify that this burden was met. See Hepps, 475 U.S. at 776. Falsity overlooks minor inaccuracies and concentrates upon substantial truth. Masson v. New Yorker Magazine, Inc., 501 U.S. 496, 516 (1991). Where a defendant alters a speaker's words but effects no material change in meaning, the speaker suffers no injury to reputation that is compensable under the law of defamation. See id. A statement is not false unless it would have a different effect on the mind of the reader from that which the pleaded truth would have produced. Id. at 517 (internal quotations omitted); see also Restatement (Second) of Torts 581A cmt. f (1977) (it is not necessary to establish the literal truth of the precise statement made; slight inaccuracies of expression are immaterial provided the defamatory charge is true in substance).