Lorain Journal Company v. Milkovich, 80-100
| Decision Date | 03 November 1980 |
| Docket Number | No. 80-100,80-100 |
| Citation | 449 U.S. 966,101 S.Ct. 380,66 L.Ed.2d 232 |
| Parties | LORAIN JOURNAL COMPANY, The News-Herald and J. Theodore Diadiun v. Michael MILKOVICH |
| Court | U.S. Supreme Court |
On petition for writ of certiorari to the Court of Appeals of Ohio, Lake County.
The motion of Beacon Journal Publishing Company et al. for leave to file a brief as amici curiae is granted. The motion of Ohio Newspapers Association for leave to file a brief as amicus curiae is granted.
The petition for a writ of certiorari is denied.
This petition for certiorari raises an important question concerning limitations on the authority of trial courts to grant dismissals, summary judgments, or judgments notwithstanding the verdict 1 in favor of media defendants in libel actions, based on the qualified privilege outlined in New York Times Co. v. Sullivan, 376 U.S. 254, 84 S.Ct. 710, 11 L.Ed.2d 686 (1964).
On January 8, 1975, the News-Herald of Willoughby, Ohio, published a column by sportswriter Ted Diadium criticizing respondent Michael Milkovich, a wrestling coash at Maple Heights High Schoo, who is treated as a 'public figure' for purposes of this case. Headlined "Maple beat the law with the 'big lie,' " the column accused Milkovich of lying about a fracas that occurred during one of his team's wrestling matches.
On February 9, 1974, the Maple High School wrestling team, coached by Milkovich, faced a team from Mentor High School. A brawl involving both wrestlers and spectators erupted after a controversial ruling by a referee. Several wrestlers were injured. The Ohio High School Athletic Association (OHSAA) subsequently conducted a hearing into the occurrence, censured Milkovich for his conduct at the match placed his team on probation for the school year, and declared the team ineligible to compete in the state wrestling tournament. Diadiun attended and reported on both the match and the hearing, at which Milkovich had defended his behavior. Thereafter, a group of parents and high school wrestlers filed suit in Franklin County Common Pleas Court, claiming that the OHSAA had denied the team due process. Milkovich, not a party to that lawsuit, appeared as a witness for the plaintiffs. On January 7, 1975, the court held that due process had been denied, and enjoined the team's suspension. Barrett v. Ohio High School Athletic Assn., No. 74CV-09-3390.2
Justice STEWART would deny this petition for want of a final judgment.
Diadiun did not attend the court hearing, review the transcript, or read the court's opinion, but he wrote a column about the decision based on his own recollection of the wrestling match and ensuing OHSAA hearing and on a description of the court proceeding given him by an OHSAA Commissioner. In the column, Diadiun stated that Milkovich and others had "misrepresented" the occurrences at the OHSAA hearing, and that Milkovich's testimony "had enough contradictions and obvious untruths so that the six board members were able to see through it." Diadiun went on to say, however, that at the later court hearing Milkovich and a fellow witness "apparently had their version of the incident polished and reconstructed, and the judge apparently believed them." Diadiun concluded that anyone who had attended the match
Milkovich filed a libel action in state court against petitioners Diadiun, the News-Herald, and the latter's parent corporation. Petitioners moved for summary judgment. The court held that Milkovich is a public figure for purposes of the New York Times test,3 but denied summary judgment. The action was then tried to a jury. After five days of trial, at the close of Milkovich's evidence, petitioners moved for a directed verdict. They argued that Milkovich had failed to proffer sufficient evidence from which the jury could conclude that Diadiun's column had been published with actual malice under the New York Times test. The court granted the motion for directed verdict, stating that the evidence, considered most strongly in favor of Milkovich, "fails to establish by clear and convincing proof that the article . . . was published with knowledge of its falsity or in reckless disregard of the truth."
Milkovich appealed to the State Court of Appeals, which reversed and remanded for trial. The court stated that Diadiun's column conflicted with the factual determination reached in the earlier Common Pleas Court injunctive action, and held that this conflict alone constituted sufficient evidence of actual malice to withstand petitioner's motion for directed verdict.4 Petitioners appealed to the Ohio Supreme Court and also sought review in the nature of certiorari. The Ohio Supreme Court dismissed the appeal as raising "no substantial constitutional question" and otherwise denied review. The court also denied petitioners' motion for rehearing.5
The import of the Ohio appellate court's holding is plainly that, even in the absence of proof of knowing falsehood or reckless disregard for the truth, a newspaper forfeits its right to a directed verdict, summary judgment, or judgment notwithstanding the verdict on the issue of actual malice if it has published a statement that conflicts, however tangentially, with a decision by a court. This holding is clearly contrary to the First Amendment and to the relevant precedents of this Court. I had supposed it was settled that newspapers are privileged to publish their views of the facts, so long as those views are not recklessly or knowingly false. It matters not that such views may conflict with those of a court, for the press is free to differ with judicial determinations. In the libel area, neither a court nor any other institution is the "recognized arbiter of the truth," as the court below asserted. See Gertz v. Robert Welch, Inc., 418 U.S. 323, 339-340, 94 S.Ct. 2997, 3006-3007, ...
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Milkovich v. Lorain Journal Co
...Court dismissed the ensuing appeal for want of a substantial constitutional question, and this Court denied certiorari. 449 U.S. 966, 101 S.Ct. 380, 66 L.Ed.2d 232 (1980). On remand, relying in part on our decision in Gertz v. Robert Welch, Inc., 418 U.S. 323, 94 S.Ct. 2997, 41 L.Ed.2d 789 ......
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