Court Opinion

ID: 9650385
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-23 15:34:38.690273+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:12:20.668190
License: Public Domain

CLARK, Circuit Judge
(dissenting).--
The decision herein seems to -me not" in; accordance with New York law, where the; right of comment on a public official has, been safeguarded in a practical way by' “a-somewhat different rule” than -in- ordinary-cases and “a clear charge of corruption' or gross incompetence holding one up to disgrace and contumely” is required; even, an imputation of corrupt or dishonorable motives will be justified as fair comment if it is a reasonable inference from the facts. Tanzer v. Crowley Pub. Corp., 240 App. Div. 203, 268 N.Y.S. 620, 622; Gardner v. Home Life Publications, Inc., 237 App. Div. 200, 260 N.Y.S. 872, 874; Hills v. Press Co., 122 Misc. 212, 202 N.Y.S. 678, 681, affirmed 214 App.Div. 752, 209 N.Y.S. 848. And so the cited cases hold not'libel-, ous per se comments on public officers more directly suggesting corrupt motives than, does the one here — which charges - rather’ bigotry and prejudice than corruption or impropriety in office. In the Tanzer case the comment attributed dishonorable motives to a mayor in his appointment of a city attorney; in the Hills cáse the comment charged special favoritism' by a city fuel administrator to particular coal dealers and in the prosecution of cases. I think it clear that the charge must go to the extent of definite impropriety in office, as in Bennet v. Commercial Advertiser Ass’n, 230 N.Y. 125, 129 N.E. 343, but clearly not in the present case, before recovery can be had without proof of special damages.
Moreover, this view seems to be general, as shown by the fact that the majority of the many actions brought by this plaintiff against various newspapers based on this same article have been dismissed. Many cases were disposed of without reasoned opinions; of those where the matter is discussed, reference may be made to the persuasive reasoning of the Tennessee Supreme Court speaking through Chief Justice Green in Sweeney v. Newspaper Printing Corp., 147 S.W.2d 406, of Cavanah, D.J., in Sweeney v. Capital News Pub. Co., D.C. Idaho, 37 F.Supp. 355, of the Ohio Court of Appeals, affirming the dismissal below, in Sweeney v. The Beacon Journal Publishing Co., 66 Ohio App. 475, 35 N.E.2d 471, appeal dismissed 138 Ohio St. 330, 34 N.E.2d 764, May 7, 1941, ánd of the district court in this cáse. Of süch opinions to the contrary we find only two, both by the same district judge in the Northern District'of Illinois, apparently-unreported, and based upon an 'interpretation of Illinois law as limiting comment on public officers.
, Not only does this seem to me, therefore, new law at least for New York State, but also definitely disturbing law. It would be- a fine world to live in if only tolerance were so usual that a charge of the lack thereof against a public official could bé so presumptively untrue that it would seem on its face unfair and libelous. But in our present world we must not take the naive view that what ought to be is, and that whoever suggests the contrary is a slanderer; for if we do so, we shut off all healthy criticism of prejudice, and allow bigotry full scope to act with impunity. Even more dangerous is the rationale of the decision that a comment leading an appreciable number of readers to hate or hold in contempt the public official commented on is libelous per se. Its broad sweep would take in comments found day after day in the most conservative newspapers, either in direct statement or as quotations of responsible critics, that a public official, particularly a legislator, is pro- or anti-labor, or pro- or anti-Nazi, or pro or anti this or thát race, color, or creed. Minority comment on labor, religious and political views *292and activities of politicians becomes therefore hazardous. And the making of fine distinctions in rationale is indicated by the implication that a comment suggesting plaintiff's objection to the judicial candidate for his foreign birth alone would have been proper. Of course, the uncertain threat of suit, invited by a rule at once so vague and so extensive, is a restriction on freedom of the press almost as direct as a rule of clear liability.
I do not think it an adequate answer to such a threat against public comment, which seems to me necessary if democratic processes are to function, to say that it applies only to false statements. For this is comment and inference, as the Tanzer case suggests, and hence not a matter of explicit proof or disproof. The public official will always regard himself as not bigoted, and will so testify, sincerely enough. And then the burden of proving the truth of the defense will rest upon the commentator, who must sustain the burden of showing his inference true. If he fails in even a minority of the suits against him- — as the sporting element in trials to juries susceptible to varying shades of local opinion would make probable — he is taught his lesson, and a serious brake upon free discussion established. But the common-law requirement of proof of special damages gives him the protection he needs, while at the same time it does prevent him from causing really serious injury and loss by false and unfair statements. That should be the rule applied here, as the district court held.