Court Opinion

ID: 9775767
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-29 19:08:34.650792+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:32:30.902198
License: Public Domain

KILGARLIN, Justice,
concurring and dissenting.
I concur with the majority opinion that there is no clear and convincing evidence of actual malice on the part of Doubleday. This publisher may have been negligent in failing to demand verification from author Katz but nothing in the record can support a conclusion that Doubleday’s actions reached the standard of conduct proscribed by New York Times v. Sullivan, 376 U.S. 254, 84 S.Ct. 710, 11 L.Ed.2d 686 (1964). I, therefore, join in reversing the judgment of the court of appeals and rendering judgment that Dr. Rogers take nothing from Doubleday and Co., Inc.
However, I agree with that part of the dissent of Justice Ray that in a libel case such as this, actual damages are presumed, and, thus, exemplary damages are recoverable. That Westbrook Pegler’s printed diatribe about Quentin Reynolds was so outrageous and because by disbelief Reynolds’ excellent reputation remained untarnished, thereby leading to an award of only one dollar in actual damages, does not mean that $100,000 exemplary damages should not have been assessed against Pegler as punishment and a warning to others in the profession of journalism. To permit otherwise would mean that a defamer, motivated by actual malice, becomes the beneficiary of the unassailable reputation of the one he has defamed. Reynolds v. Pegler, 123 F.Supp. 36 (S.D.N.Y. 1954), aff'd, 223 F.2d 429 (2d Cir. 1955), cert. denied, 350 U.S. 846, 76 S.Ct. 80, 100 L.Ed. 754 (1955).
Thus, I would affirm the court of appeals’ rendition of judgment for Dr. Rogers against Harvey Katz.