Court Opinion

ID: 9607420
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-22 02:58:34.390588+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T13:27:32.991678
License: Public Domain

Rosellini, C. J.
(concurring in the result) — As the majority state, the issue on this appeal is whether the Attorney General and members of his staff were absolutely privileged in the issuance of the press release concerning the initiation of the litigation. As they also observe, the Attorney General is not required by law to issue press releases, but I agree that it can be inferred that he has a duty to keep the public informed about the activities of his office. Since his office initiates litigation on behalf of the state, it would seem that he has a duty, or at least a right to keep the public informed concerning the nature of the litigation which he instigates.
On the other hand, we have Canon 20 of the Canons of Professional Ethics, which reads:
Newspaper publications by a lawyer as to pending or anticipated litigation may interfere with a fair trial in the courts and otherwise prejudice the due administration of justice. Generally they are to be condemned. If the extreme circumstances of a particular case justify a statement to the public, it is unprofessional to make it anonymously. An ex parte reference to the facts should *835not go beyond quotation from the records and papers on file in the court; but even in extreme cases it is better to avoid any ex parte statement.
I do not think that this canon should be overlooked in any discussion of the Attorney General’s rights and duties in a case of this nature. He is the lawyer for the state, a most powerful and influential client. Consequently, he should be particularly mindful of the harm that may befall an opponent in litigation if his exercise of the privilege to disseminate information is abused. And I believe that the opinion of the court in this case should make it clear that the right or duty to inform the public concerning the Attorney General’s performance of his duties does not include a license to make gratuitous statements concerning the facts of the case or disparaging the character of other parties to an action.
As I read the press release involved in this suit, it does not go beyond quotation from the record in any significant way. The complaint, of course, is open to the public and the press would have had access to it without the aid of a press release. While even this type of statement by a private attorney is discouraged by the canon, I am willing to concede that the public duties of the Attorney General may justify his making such a statement; however, it is not a practice which is recommended.1
If he chose to issue a statement which contained libelous matter outside the matter quoted from the record, I would be inclined to the belief that the publication was not in the public interest and therefore not privileged.
Inasmuch as I believe that the opinion filed in this case should take cognizance of the pertinence of Canon 20, and the rule should be stated less broadly than it is stated in that opinion, I concur only in the result.

The filing oí a complaint will, in most instances, be given publicity by the news media.