Court Opinion

ID: 9590016
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-21 23:50:58.963673+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T09:04:59.253173
License: Public Domain

Miller, J.,
dissenting: I disagree with the conclusion reached by the majority, and therefore, I respectfully dissent.
The majority opinion reaches three conclusions. The first two are that Mr. Steere is not a public official, and that Mr. Steere is not a public figure for limited purposes, i.e., the reporting of the Schoonover case and Mr. Steere’s subsequent censure by this court. All of the justices of this court join in and agree with those conclusions.
The third, and the rationale for the affirmance of the judgment below, is the majority’s conclusion that Mr. Steere is a public figure for all purposes. The trial court found that he was a public figure for all purposes because of the extent of his activity in the *577city of Ottawa and in Franklin County. The majority finds him a public figure for all purposes for similar reasons: because he served as Franklin County attorney for several years; because he was once engaged as special counsel for the Franklin County Board of County Commissioners in a controversial dispute; and because he led an active social and professional life in Ottawa for many years.
Under this rationale, hundreds, if not thousands, of Kansans are public figures for all purposes. A physician who has practiced his profession in a small community for many years, who has perhaps served as a deputy coroner, and who has been active in social, professional and community affairs, is a public figure for all purposes — though he may be unknown outside the county of his residence. Likewise, a certified public accountant, a banker, a stockbroker, or a realtor, who has practiced his profession in the same city for many years, who somewhere along the line has held a municipal office, and who is socially and professionally active on the local level, is now a public figure for all purposes. I cannot agree.
Who, then, is a public figure? We find the following definitional statements in Gertz v. Robert Welch, Inc., 418 U.S. 323, 41 L.Ed.2d 789, 94 S.Ct. 2997 (1974):
“Those who, by reason of the notoriety of their achievements or the vigor and success with which they seek the public’s attention, are properly classed as public figures . . . . (p. 342.)
“Hypothetically, it may be possible for someone to become a public figure through no purposeful action of his own, but the instances of truly involuntary public figures must be exceedingly rare. For the most part those who attain this status have assumed roles of especial prominence in the affairs of society. Some occupy positions of such persuasive power and influence that they are deemed public figures for all purposes. More commonly, those classed as public figures have thrust themselves to the forefront of particular public controversies in order to influence the resolution of the issues involved. . . .
“[A] private individual ... [is one who] has not accepted public office or assumed an ‘influential role in ordering society.’ (p. 345.)
“That designation [a public figure] may rest on either of two alternative bases. In some instances an individual may achieve such pervasive fame or notoriety that he becomes a public figure for all purposes and in all contexts. More commonly, an individual voluntarily injects himself or is drawn into a particular public controversy and thereby becomes a public figure for a limited range of issues. In either case such persons assume special prominence in the resolution of public questions.” (p. 351.)
*578The courts have held only a few persons to be public figures for all purposes. These include: Johnny Carson, the nationally known entertainer and host of the “Tonight Show,” and his wife, Carson v. Allied News Co., 529 F.2d 206 (7th Cir. 1976); the natural children of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg, Meeropol v. Nizer, 560 F.2d 1061 (2d Cir. 1977), cert. denied 434 U.S. 1013 (1978); Wally Butts, athletic director and former head football coach of the University of Georgia, and possibly General Edwin A. Walker, retired, Curtis Publishing Co. v. Butts, 388 U.S. 130, 18 L.Ed.2d 1094, 87 S.Ct. 1975 (1967). As late as June of this year, the United States Supreme Court indicated that only a “small group” of individuals are public figures for all purposes. Wolston v. Reader's Digest Assn., Inc.,_U.S._, 61 L.Ed.2d 450, 458, 99 S.Ct. 2701 (1979).
To include Mr. Steere, well known though he may be in his home community, in the same classification as the Johnny Car-sons and those whose names are subject to instant recognition by millions, seems absurd. He does not possess great “power and influence”; he does not have “pervasive fame or notoriety”; and he has not assumed a role of “especial prominence in the affairs of society.” The result, in my judgment, is to lower the standards of news media reporting as to a multitude of Kansas business and professional people; to deprive those people of the rights and protection which should be their due; and to expand the “small group” envisioned by the United States Supreme Court into an assemblage of vast proportions. I would reverse the judgment and remand for trial.
Schroeder, C.J., joins in the foregoing dissenting opinion.