Court rules remark about church not actionable
Article Abstract:
The US Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit ruled in Church of Scientology International v. Daniels that descriptions by an Eli Lilly & Co official of the church as a commercial enterprise rather than a religious institution did not constitute libel. The court disagreed with church contentions that the Lilly official's failure to investigate reports on the church exhaustively enough rendered his statements malicious. The court also noted that public information about the institution was at odds with common ideas of what a church is.
Publication Name: News Media & the Law
Subject: Literature/writing
ISSN: 0149-0737
Year: 1993
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Reports based on secret probe privileged
Article Abstract:
The US Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit has ruled that most of a report on a secret government investigation qualified for protection under California's fair report privilege law, but remanded the part of the report that fell outside the law for trial to settle the libel issue. In Crane v The Arizona Republic, the court stated there was sufficient evidence for a jury to decide whether a reporter had slandered two government officials in the report he made about the secret investigation.
Publication Name: News Media & the Law
Subject: Literature/writing
ISSN: 0149-0737
Year: 1992
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Lawsuit documents privileged even if known to be false
Article Abstract:
The Nevada Supreme Court ruled that the public had access to court records which included false information because the records accurately reported the judicial proceedings. The court stated the records could not be used to support a libel action.
Publication Name: News Media & the Law
Subject: Literature/writing
ISSN: 0149-0737
Year: 1999
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- Abstracts: Questions about charity held not libelous. Speculation about police pickets held to be opinion, not libelous. Court wrongly prohibited libelous speech
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