Conklin v. Augusta Chronicle Pub. Co.
| Decision Date | 31 October 1921 |
| Docket Number | 3629. |
| Citation | 276 F. 288 |
| Parties | CONKLIN v. AUGUSTA CHRONICLE PUB. CO. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Fifth Circuit |
Mary L Greer Conklin, of Washington, D.C., in pro. per.
Wallace B. Pierce and Benjamin E. Pierce, both of Augusta, Ga. (Wm H. Barrett, of Augusta, Ga., on the brief), for appellee.
Before WALKER, BRYAN, and KING, Circuit Judges.
Mary L Greer Conklin, in her own proper person, filed a petition which she styled a bill in equity, but which in reality was an action at law to recover damages for alleged newspaper libels, against the Augusta Chronicle Publishing Company, the Constitution Publishing Company, and the Morning News, owners of three well-known daily newspapers, then and now published in the state of Georgia.
Mrs. Conklin, who will hereinafter be referred to as plaintiff, voluntarily dismissed out of the suit the Constitution Publishing Company and the Morning News, and thereafter prosecuted the action against the Augusta Chronicle Publishing Company alone. Defendant's demurrer was sustained and the petition dismissed.
At the time the suit was brought, all the alleged libels except one were barred by the statute of limitations, and may be left out of consideration. The publication not barred by the statute of limitations, of which complaint is made, purported to state the proceedings had in the Supreme Court of Georgia, in the case of Conklin v. Conklin, reported in 148 Ga. 640, 98 S.E. 221, which was a suit brought by the present plaintiff to set aside a decree of divorce theretofore obtained against her by her former husband. That publication is alleged to have contained in its caption the words, 'Conklin divorce case decided against woman,' and in the body thereof the following statement:
'It is shown in the record that Mary L. Greer, whose home was in Winfield, Cowley county, Kansas, was married to George H. Conklin, of Augusta, about 1900,' and 'Conklin brought suit for divorce and, according to Mrs. Conklin's petition, she was made to understand and believe by him that the ground to be alleged in the libel for divorce would be desertion, to which she agreed.'
Plaintiff alleges that the words above quoted from the caption, and the expression in the body of the article, namely, 'Mary L Greer, whose home was in Winfield, Cowley county, Kansas,' were intended to mean and to convey the impression that plaintiff was an obscure person, from an obscure place. We content ourselves with the observation that the construction put upon this language...
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...Nicholson v. Dillard, 137 Ga. 225, 73 S.E. 382; Ivins v. Louisville & N. R. Co., 37 Ga.App. 684, 141 S.E. 423; Conklin v. Augusta Chronicle Pub. Co., 5 Cir., 276 F. 288; Pearce v. Brower, 72 Ga. 243; Central of Georgia Ry. Co. v. Sheftall, 118 Ga. 865, 45 S.E. 687; Doyal v. Atlanta Journal ......
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Atlanta Journal Co. v. Doyal
...report need not be verbatim and that mere inaccuracies not affecting the purport of the article are immaterial. Conklin v. Augusta Chronicle Pub. Co., 5 Cir., 276 F. 288; Vaughan v. News Leader Co., 5 Cir., 105 F.2d 360; 53 C.J.S., Libel and Slander, § 127. They contend that since the court......
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Shiver v. Valdosta Press, 33086
...for the publishing of the privileged' pleading, and 'therefore was qualifiedly privileged.' To the same effect see Conklin v. Augusta Chronicle Pub. Co., 5 Cir., 276 F. 288, wherein the newspaper article stated that Mrs. Conklin agreed to her husband's having a divorce, whereas the court de......
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Rucker v. Gandy
...and lack of malice in cases of privileged communications will bar recovery. Code Ann. § 105-706; Conklin v. Augusta Chronicle Pub. Co., 276 F. 288, 290(3) (5th Cir. 1921); Rogers v. Adams, 98 Ga.App. 155, 158(2), 105 S.E.2d 364 Having reached the conclusion that the statements in this case ......