Court Opinion

ID: 9759162
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-29 00:07:50.443009+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:28:59.943722
License: Public Domain

SCHREIBER, J.,
dissenting.
Two highly motivated senior citizens are left without redress for libelous publications holding them up to contempt and ridicule in the community in which they have lived for many years.1 This is the result of their sincere attempt to participate in local government. One, Simpson, is brought down by the Court’s unnecessarily expansive interpretation of what constitutes a “public figure.” The other, Lawrence, loses his claim because a publisher who charged him with forgery is found by this Court not to have acted with a reckless disregard of the truth, irrespective of the fact that a jury could have found that the publisher had no basis for the libelous statement. I dissent from both holdings.
I
The First Amendment right of freedom of the press does not immunize a publisher from liability for printing and disseminating libelous statements. When the First Amendment was advo*470cated and. adopted it was the settled view that the press would continue to be responsible for defamatory comments and the ensuing injury inflicted on the individual. See generally State v. Allen, 73 N.J. 132, 172-74 (1977) (Schreiber, J., concurring) (pointing out that the Framers’ concept of freedom of the press was centered upon prior restraint and that common law libel was to remain untouched). See also Gertz v. Robert Welch, Inc., 418 U.S. 323, 381-84, 94 S.Ct. 2997, 3027-28, 41 L.Ed.2d 789, 822, 829-30 (White, J., dissenting). Though subsequent construction of the First Amendment was not so limited, the cause of action for defamation, at least where the statement involved false factual material, remained unimpaired. See Rabban, “The First Amendment in Its Forgotten Years,” 90 Yale L.J. 514 (1981).
The Supreme Court modified this principle in 1964 in New York Times v. Sullivan, 376 U.S. 254, 84 S.Ct. 710, 11 L.Ed.2d 686 (1964). In balancing the press’s constitutional right to report on public affairs against the damage to the reputation of a public official, the Court limited recovery to those situations where the public official proved either that the publisher knew the statement was false at the time it was published or printed the article in reckless disregard for the truth. Insofar as a public official was concerned, this was considered to be an appropriate accommodation between the interest in an uninhibited press and the official’s need for redress of libelous statements.
In the companion cases, Curtis Publishing Co. v. Butts and Associated Press v. Walker, 388 U.S. 130, 87 S.Ct. 1975, 18 L.Ed.2d 1094 (1967), the New York Times principle was applied to “public figures” as well as public officials. The application was made without defining the term. It was not until Gertz v. Welch,2 418 U.S. 323, 94 S.Ct. 2997, 41 L.Ed.2d 789 (1974), that *471the Court laid down the guidelines. In that case a monthly publication, American Opinion, printed defamatory remarks charging a well-known Chicago lawyer with participation in a Communist campaign against the police. This lawyer had represented the family of a young man who had been killed by a Chicago policeman only in a civil action, not in the policeman’s criminal trial. The Supreme Court rejected the notion that the lawyer was a public figure.
The Court justified the application of the New York Times rule to public officials and public figures for two reasons. These individuals usually enjoyed significantly greater access to the news media and therefore had a more realistic opportunity to counteract false statements. More importantly, the public official voluntarily sought and accepted the public office and had to accept the “necessary consequences.” As for public figures, they were a limited group who had invited attention and comment.
The Gertz decision defined the public figure as (a) those who have “assumed roles of especial prominence in the affairs of society,” and (b) those who have thrust themselves to the forefront of particular public controversies in order to influence the resolution of the issues involved. We are particularly concerned in this case with the second category since the defendant has conceded that neither Lawrence nor Simpson had achieved generally “especial prominence in the affairs of society” leading to “such pervasive fame or notoriety,” so as to become “a public figure for all purposes and in all contexts.” Id. at 351, 94 S.Ct. at 3012, 41 L.Ed.2d at 812. The Court warned that it “would not lightly assume that a citizen’s participation in community and professional affairs rendered him a public figure for all purposes.” Id. at 352, 94 S.Ct. at 3013, 41 L.Ed.2d at 812.
*472Gertz prescribed four characteristics of the second group. First, the individual had to voluntarily inject himself into the controversy. Second, the controversy had to be a public one. Third, by virtue of the public controversy, the individual became a public figure for a limited range of issues. Fourth, the person had to assume “special” prominence in the resolution of the public question. Id. at 351, 94 S.Ct. at 3012, 41 L.Ed.2d at 812. The Court found that the plaintiff did not fit this pattern. He had not thrust himself into the vortex of the public issue, a Communist campaign against the police. Nor had he engaged the public’s attention in an attempt to influence “its outcome.” He had not become a public figure because of the public controversy.
After Gertz the Supreme Court continued to adhere strictly to these four characteristics. In Time, Inc. v. Firestone, 424 U.S. 448, 96 S.Ct. 958, 47 L.Ed.2d 154 (1976), Mary Firestone, the wife of Russel Firestone, scion of one of America’s wealthier industrial families, obtained a libel judgment against the publisher of Time magazine for its inaccurate report of the divorce judgment following a lengthy bitter matrimonial proceeding in Palm Beach County, Florida. The case received substantial newspaper publicity and Mrs. Firestone had called several press conferences during the trial. The Supreme Court upheld the judgment and rejected the contention that she was a public figure. It reasoned that “[dissolution of a marriage through judicial proceedings' is not the sort of ‘public controversy’ referred to in Gertz, even though the marital difficulties of extremely wealthy individuals may be of interest to some portion of the reading public.” Id. at 454, 96 S.Ct. at 965, 47 L.Ed.2d at 163. It observed that she was compelled to go to court in the divorce action and concluded that “[s]he assumed no ‘special prominence in the resolution of public questions.’ ” Id. at 454-55,96 S.Ct. at 965, 47 L.Ed.2d at 163.
The Supreme Court next considered the public figure concept in two cases decided the same day, Hutchinson v. Proxmire, 443 U.S. 111, 99 S.Ct. 2675, 61 L.Ed.2d 411 (1979), and Wolston v. *473Reader’s Digest Ass’n, 443 U.S. 157, 99 S.Ct. 2701, 61 L.Ed.2d 450 (1979). In Hutchinson, Senator Proxmire was sued for defamation arising out of his “Golden Fleece” award, which he granted with attendant publicity to those involved in supposedly wasteful governmental expenditures. One such case concerned funding a study by Hutchinson of emotional behavior of certain animals. The Court rejected the notion that Hutchinson had “the regular and continuing access to the media [prior to the award] that is one of the accoutrements of having become a public figure.” Id. at 136, 99 S.Ct. at 2688, 61 L.Ed.2d at 432. The publicity created by the defamatory statement could not be used to make Hutchinson into a “public figure.”
The second case involved Ilya Wolston who sued for defamatory statements made about him in a book published by the Reader’s Digest Association. The Supreme Court reversed lower court rulings that he was a public figure. A special federal grand jury had been conducting a major investigation into the activities of Soviet intelligence agents in the United States. When Wolston did not respond to a grand jury subpoena, at least seven news stories appeared in New York and Washington newspapers. Subsequently, Wolston pleaded guilty to contempt for his failure to appear and the newspapers reported this event. In all, during the six-week period between his non-appearance and sentencing, fifteen stories were printed in Washington and New York papers. Thereafter the publicity subsided.
The Supreme Court observed that the mere fact Wolston voluntarily chose not to appear before the grand jury was not decisive. It emphasized that the focus must be on the “nature and extent of an individual’s participation in the particular controversy giving rise to the defamation.” Id. at 167, 99 S.Ct. at 2707, 61 L.Ed.2d at 460, quoting Gertz v. Welch, supra, 418 U.S. at 352, 94 S.Ct. at 3013, 41 L.Ed.2d at 812. The Court significantly observed:
A private individual is not automatically transformed into a public figure just by becoming involved in or associated with a matter that attracts public atten*474tion.... A libel defendant must show more than mere newsworthiness to justify application of the demanding burden of New York Times. [Id]
The Court went on to state that Wolston’s failure to respond to the subpoena was not “calculated to draw attention to himself in order to invite public comment or influence the public with respect to any issue.” Id. at 168, 99 S.Ct. at 2707, 61 L.Ed.2d at 460.
These cases point rather clearly in the direction that there must be strict compliance with all the requisites defined in Gertz before the handicap of becoming a public figure is imposed. When these criteria are applied to Simpson, he falls far short of attaining the status of a public figure. Two guidelines were met. The controversy involved the proposed municipal expenditure of an additional $100,000 for a firehouse. This unquestionably was a public controversy. Second, Simpson had voluntarily injected himself into it. However, he did not by virtue of that controversy become a public figure for the limited range of issues involved. Nor did he assume special prominence in the resolution of the firehouse question. The trial court’s conclusion that Simpson was not a public figure was based on these two latter elements.3
At the time of trial, Simpson was 68 years old and had lived in Rahway for 45 years. He had retired in 1973 from his job as a production foreman in a book publishing plant. His participation in local affairs had been confined to the local First Aid organization and the Rahway Taxpayers’ Association, a civic group formed to act as a watchdog over municipal expenditures. Simpson had written two letters to the editor of the Rahway News-Record on the firehouse controversy, one arguing against the increased expenditures and the other responding to a critic *475of the first letter. Of the thirteen articles related solely to the firehouse controversy submitted into evidence at the trial, only one of them mentioned Simpson. That article was accompanied by a picture depicting the transmittal of the petitions by members of the Taxpayers’ Association to the City Clerk. Simpson was part of this group photograph. Though Simpson had spoken at monthly Town Council meetings, as had other citizens, the record does not disclose on how many, if any, occasions he spoke on the firehouse issue. He obtained between 250 and 275 signatures on petitions seeking a public referendum on the question. The solicitation was carried on by about 20 others who ultimately obtained approximately 5,000 signatures. His name appeared on the petitions as one of a committee of five, it being a statutory requirement that petitions be in that form. He had also joined in the lawsuit against the City, which had rejected the petitions on the ground that a public referendum was not available to review an ordinance appropriating funds.
One could reasonably conclude, as did the trial court, that Simpson had not risen to that special prominence by virtue of his activities on the firehouse controversy. He had not sought to draw attention to himself to influence the public. He was part of a team of citizens who attempted to have the public vote on the issues. Though his role may have been somewhat more noticeable than others, he had not attained a special prominence because of the local publicity prior to the defamatory publications. The trial court’s comments are worthy of repetition:
He was not in the vortex of this fight. He did not get the newspaper publicity. He acted more or less as a private citizen in attending meetings, making an occasional dispute. There’s a dispute in the number of speeches he made. He talked ... occasionally at least and I do not think he meets the standards. So the Court will hold that Mr. Simpson, for the purposes of this litigation, is not a public figure.
Important policy reasons justify this result. As noted previously, the New York Times rule exposing public officials and public figures to defamatory statements reflected an accommo*476dation between reducing the inhibition on freedom of the press and the individual’s right to redress for defamation. Yet, this case demonstrates that an added dimension should be considered, the individual’s right to free speech. This Court today recognizes that:
[r]ecent developments in the law of libel and defamation have been directed toward preventing people from being discouraged in the full and free exercise of their First Amendment rights with respect to the conduct of their government. [Kotlikoff v. Community News, 89 N.J. 62 (1982)]
It has been said that “[cjriticism of government is at the very center of the constitutionally protected area of free discussion.” Rosenblatt v. Baer, 383 U.S. 75, 85, 86 S.Ct. 669, 675, 15 L.Ed.2d 597, 605 (1966). The First Améndment protects an individual’s activity in speaking in public forums, Hague v. CIO, 307 U.S. 496, 515-16, 59 S.Ct. 954, 963-64, 83 L.Ed. 1423, 1436-37 (1939), and in canvassing neighborhoods of private homes, Hynes v. Mayor of Oradell, 425 U.S. 610, 616-17, 96 S.Ct. 1755, 1758-59, 48 L.Ed.2d 243, 250-51 (1976). See also id. at 624-25, 96 S.Ct. at 1762-63, 48 L.Ed.2d at 255-56 (Brennan, J., concurring). These twin First Amendment rights insure that people seeking to communicate with the public have two readily available channels of public communication.
A freely expansive notion of a public figure in the context of this case defeats the major underlying purpose of the New York Times principle. It will throttle rather than foster public debate and criticism. The chilling effect on the individuai’s right of free speech is real. This case illustrates what may occur. After the libelous newspaper article appeared, Simpson stopped attending and speaking out at municipal council meetings. Lawrence, too, had second thoughts about his activity, though he decided to continue. Citizen participation in local governmental affairs is to be encouraged, not discouraged. Broadly construing “public figures” to embrace townspeople whose only notoriety relates to debate over a local governmental controversy of the type exemplified in this case is counterproductive.
*477Professor Eldredge, in his treatise The Law of Defamation (1978), has graphically demonstrated the point:
The Courts are in a most critical and delicate area in considering what persons, who voluntarily inject themselves into public controversies and take positions on matters which are clearly “public issues,” should be subject to the New York Times standard. A broad extension of this standard could be an instrument to destroy the very freedom of speech in whose name the extension is demanded. One of the great needs in contemporary America is to encourage more good people to participate in government, to speak out, and stand up and be counted, on important questions. How often do leading lawyers, doctors, bankers, business men, raise their voices of complaint and critical discussion of a public issue around their luncheon tables, and how seldom are they willing to say the same thing publicly and give the general public the guidance which is needed? Par too often, even our bar associations show timidity in coming out forthrightly on matters in which they could provide great guidance. Par too often, the citizen. of some stature in the community who is willing to be quoted in a newspaper or be interviewed on radio or television on any important controversial question, seems to be a lone wolf howling in the wilderness. Such people may or may not “seek” the spotlight of the stage of public opinion but they generally get into it by saying what they deeply believe must be said. Suppose the private citizen criticizes the Board of Magistrates and charges corruption in the disposition of gambling cases in the city. If there can be unleashed against him a stream of false defamation under the protection of New York Times, his voice will soon be silenced, or made ineffective. And seeing this result, who will dare to speak out again in the same vein? Unbridled defamation concerning matters of public concern was a tool the Nazis used in pre-World War II Germany to destroy important men and render useless what they said, the men whose messages desperately needed to be heeded. How much is freedom of speech really advanced by a constitutional rule which says: “Once you speak out on a question of public interest you become fair game for the John Birch Society, for every venomous newspaper editor, and for everybody else who wants to destroy you and the power of what you say?”
I fully realize that this argument cuts both ways. But the only justification for New York Times, in its drastic cutting down of the scope of actionable defamation, (and its destruction within its scope of the precious right of public vindication of one’s good name) is that it is necessary in order to encourage people to speak out on important questions. If, in fact, the privilege will in some situations encourage people to speak out and, in others, discourage them, then only the net gain for free speech should be weighed against the value of reputation, in striking the balance on the scale of constitutional law. We cannot determine the balance, as some writers seem to do, by merely putting the value-weight of a good reputation on one side of the scale and the value-weight of completely uninhibited free speech on the other. That smacks too much of the butcher putting his thumb on the scale. [Id. at 283-85; (footnotes omitted) ]
*478II
I also agree with the trial court that there was sufficient evidence with respect to Lawrence’s claim warranting submission of the issue of defendant’s “actual malice” to the jury. New York Times defined actual malice to be either the publication of a defamatory statement actually known to be false or the publication in reckless disregard of its truth or falsity.
St. Amant v. Thompson, 390 U.S. 727, 88 S.Ct. 1323, 20 L.Ed.2d 262 (1968), upon which the majority so heavily relies, does not draw a bright line between what may or may not constitute a reckless disregard for truth. Rather, it recognizes that no simple definition exists for “reckless disregard.” “Reckless disregard ... cannot be fully encompassed in one infallible definition. Inevitably its outer limits will be marked out through case by case adjudication.... ” Id. at 730, 88 S.Ct. at 1325, 20 L.Ed.2d at 267.
The majority has stressed a part of the St. Amant opinion that indicates that reckless conduct is not measured by a reasonably prudent man standard and that there must be sufficient evidence to demonstrate “that the defendant in fact entertained serious doubts as to the truth of his publication.” (Ante at 466, quoting 390 U.S. at 731, 88 S.Ct. at 1325, 20 L.Ed.2d at 267). If this were the only message in St. Amant, I would be constrained to agree with the majority’s conclusion. However, St. Amant also states:
The defendant in a defamation action brought by a public official cannot, however, automatically insure a favorable verdict by testifying that he published with a belief that the statements were true. The finder of fact must determine whether the publication was indeed made in good faith. Professions of good faith will be unlikely to prove persuasive, for example, where a story is fabricated by the defendant, is the product of his imagination, or is based wholly on an unverified anonymous telephone call. Nor will they be likely to prevail when the publisher’s allegations are so inherently improbable that only a reckless man would have put them in circulation. Likewise, recklessness may be found where there are obvious reasons to doubt the veracity of the informant or the accuracy of his reports. [390 U.S. at 732, 88 S.Ct. at 1326, 20 L.Ed.2d at 267-68]
*479This passage imposes on the publisher an element of good faith. Thus, where a publisher acts based on an unverified anonymous telephone call even though he may in fact not entertain serious doubts about the truth, he may be found to have acted with a reckless disregard of the truth. The factual setting in St Amant is instructive. Thompson, a deputy sheriff, sued St. Amant, a political candidate, for quoting in a campaign speech statements made about him by J. D. Albin, a member of a local union. Thompson could prove that the statements were defamatory and false, but could not show that St. Amant knew of their falsity. Thus, the issue was whether St. Amant made his speech with a reckless disregard of the truth. The Court decided that St. Amant’s reliance upon Albin was not reckless under the circumstances. St. Amant had relied on other occasions upon information received from Albin without incident. These prior dealings sufficed to give St. Amant confidence in Albin, so that his repetition of Albin’s statements was not a reckless disregard of the truth.
St Amant does not stand for the proposition that libel defendants have immunity so long as they testify that they believed what they wrote was true. The courts will examine the circumstances and decide whether the individual who should have entertained serious doubts about the truth, recklessly went ahead. This is the interpretation that several federal circuit courts have attributed to St Amant
In Carson v. Allied News Co., 529 F.2d 206 (7th Cir. 1976), the defendant had published a story indicating that Johnny Carson, the well-known late-night entertainer, had moved the site of his television show so as to be near the woman who had caused the breakup of his first marriage. The facts showed that the woman in question not only did not live in California but that Carson did not meet her until after he and his first wife had separated. The court found that the reporter had no basis for much of his story, attributing the published statements to his *480imagination, and consequently found recklessness possible—regardless of whether the reporter actually believed the import of his story to be truthful.
In Guam Federation of Teachers v. Ysrael, 492 F.2d 438 (7th Cir.), cert. denied, 419 U.S. 872, 95 S.Ct. 132, 42 L.Ed.2d 111 (1974), the court held there was a jury issue as to whether the statements were made with “malice.” The court wrote:
He repeatedly admitted that he did not know whether what he said was true. He repeatedly admitted that he did nothing, or almost nothing, to verify his charges. As to most of his statements, he repeatedly admitted that he knew of no facts to support them; he either relied upon unspecified rumor or upon nothing at all. He simply asserted that he believed that what he said was true. Such an assertion is not enough to support a directed verdict in his favor. If it were, mere swearing could, as a matter of law, defeat any action to which the New York Times principles are applicable. See St. Amant v. Thompson, 1968, 390 U.S. 727, 732, 88 S.Ct. 1323 [1326], 20 L.Ed.2d 262. [Id. at 439]
In Goldwater v. Ginzberg, 414 F.2d 324 (2d Cir. 1969), the defendant argued that he should not be liable for defamatory remarks made about Senator Goldwater’s psychological stability because he based his observations on other sources. While the court did find that Ginzberg did not merely repeat these statements but added certain innuendos to them, it also emphasized that lack of adequate investigation has been an important fact in proving “reckless disregard for the truth.” Since the article did not contain “hot news,” the Second Circuit thought that the seriousness of the charges called for a thorough investigation, yet the evidence revealed “only the careless utilization of slipshod and sketchy investigative techniques....’’ Id. at 339. See also Vandenberg v. Newsweek, Inc., 441 F.2d 378, 380 (5th Cir. 1971) (stating “[t]he Supreme Court has held that actual malice may be inferred when the investigation for a story which is not ‘hot news’ was grossly inadequate in the circumstances”).
A belief by the publisher that otherwise defamatory charges are true does not preclude a finding of liability. Jurors should be allowed to consider all the evidence concerning defendant’s *481acts in deliberating upon whether the defendant published with actual malice. Did the publisher act in good faith? Was there a source of the information? Was that source reasonably, from the publisher’s standpoint, relied upon? The St. Amant standard, as I understand it, will in no way trench upon the freedom of a responsible press.
Factual determinations had to be made in this case in order to ascertain the circumstances under which the publisher acted. There was a conflict in the testimony. The majority opinion accepts Bauer’s version of the information related to him by Hartnett. However, Hartnett testified that he had at no time stated or intimated that Lawrence had forged any signatures on or falsely sworn to the propriety of the signatures on the petitions. At trial Hartnett went to great pains to. clarify his conversations with the publisher. He maintained repeatedly that he had never linked either Lawrence or Simpson with the forgeries. In fact, he denied ever linking Lawrence to the charge of false swearing. If Hartnett is believed, then Bauer, who asserted Hartnett was the source of the newspaper’s information, had no basis for implying that Lawrence had been guilty of forgery or false swearing in connection with the petitions. Despite this, Bauer printed the defamatory material ■relating Lawrence to an alleged forgery. It is questionable whether Bauer acted in good faith under these circumstances. Publication could certainly be held by a jury to fall within the scope of a reckless disregard for the truth. The trial court acknowledged as much when it granted Lawrence a new trial.
I would affirm.
*482APPENDIX

*483For vacation in part and reversal in part—Chief Justice WILENTZ and Justices PASHMAN, CLIFFORD, HANDLER, POLLOCK and O’HERN—6.
For affirmance —Justice SCHREIBER—1.

See appendix for reprint of initial article.

Prior to Gertz, a plurality of the Supreme Court in Rosenbloom v. Metromedia, Inc., 403 U.S. 29, 91 S.Ct. 1811, 29 L.Ed.2d 296 (1971), advocated that the determinant should be whether the statements related to a public issue. This rationale was based on the idea that public issues should be *471debated freely, widely and openly, thus recognizing that this might well permit sharp attacks on government officials.

Contrary to the majority’s conjecture that the lower court’s evaluation of Simpson was deficient because Simpson’s participation was dwarfed in comparison with that of Lawrence (ante, at 464), the trial court analyzed Simpson’s situation “as though [he was] the only plaintiff in the case.”