LIBEL--A LIMITATION ON THE PRIVILEGE OF PUBLISHING REPORTS OF JUDICIAL PROCEEDINGS

Authors

Abstract

Is a newspaper privileged in fairly publishing the substance of a petition for divorce or other pleading immediately after it is filed in court? In the recent case of Washington Times v. Hines, (1925) 5 F. (2d) 541, in the District of Columbia, it appeared that defendant had published a typically facetious newspaper account of the divorce grounds alleged in a petition filed against plaintiff. The court of appeals, reversing a judgment of the trial court for plaintiff, held that the report was as a matter of law not libellous, since the bill was not susceptible of any other interpretation than that given it by the newspaper, notwithstanding use of the word "slugged" instead of "assaulted," and statement that assaults had occurred "ad lib."

Recommended Citation

LIBEL--A LIMITATION ON THE PRIVILEGE OF PUBLISHING REPORTS OF JUDICIAL PROCEEDINGS, 24 Mich. L. Rev. 489 (1926).
Available at: https://repository.law.umich.edu/mlr/vol24/iss5/7