Gospel Spreading Church v. Johnson Publishing Co.
Decision Date | 10 December 1971 |
Docket Number | No. 24676.,24676. |
Citation | 454 F.2d 1050 |
Parties | GOSPEL SPREADING CHURCH, Appellant, v. JOHNSON PUBLISHING CO., Inc. |
Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — District of Columbia Circuit |
Mr. Belford V. Lawson, Jr., Washington, D. C., for appellee.
Before MacKINNON and WILKEY, Circuit Judges, and FRANK M. JOHNSON, Jr.,* Chief Judge, United States District Court for the Middle District of Alabama.
This action in libel was brought by a nonprofit corporation, organized for religious purposes, which operates a federation of nine churches located in the District of Columbia, Maryland, Pennsylvania and Virginia. The corporation was founded in approximately 1919 by Elder Lightfoot Solomon Michaux. He was also its chief spiritual leader and chief executive officer and is now deceased. The article which is the basis for the action was published by defendant in its April 24, 1969 issue of Jet magazine. It contained a number of statements concerning the size of the estate left by Elder Michaux and the possible interest of his estate in several large apartment buildings in which plaintiff claims to own "100% of all the capital stock of each of the corporations which holds title to said properties." There were also other defamatory inferences.
403 U.S. at 44-45, 91 S.Ct. at 1820 (emphasis added). Clearly the Gospel Spreading Church satisfies both criteria. As an established church with substantial congregations it seeks to play "an influential role in ordering society," Curtis Publishing Co. v. Butts, supra, 388 U.S. at 164, 87 S.Ct. at 1996, and may properly be considered to be a public institution. As the beneficiary of special constitutional and statutory rights and exemptions its activities are also of "public or general concern" within Rosenbloom v. Metromedia, Inc., supra. The general public has a vital interest in...
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...reasonable minds would not differ, the court may proceed to rule on the legal question. See Gospel Spreading Church v. Johnson Publishing Co., 147 U.S.App.D.C. 207, 208, 454 F.2d 1050, 1051 (1971) (summary judgment justified if no evidence of actual malice); Thompson v. Evening Star Newspap......
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...113, 448 A.2d 1317 (1982). The defendants have failed to do so. The defendants rely on the decision in Gospel Spreading Church v. Johnson iPublishing Co., 454 F.2d 1050 (D.C.Cir.1971), which held that the financial activities of a church were a public concern. The defendant's reliance on th......
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...93 S.Ct. 939, 35 L.Ed.2d 257 (1973); Treutler v. Meredith Corp., 455 F.2d 255 (8th Cir. 1972); Gospel Spreading Church v. Johnson Publishing Co., 147 U.S.App.D.C. 207, 454 F.2d 1050 (1971); Cerrito v. Time, Inc., 449 F.2d 306 (9th Cir. 1971); Time, Inc. v. Johnston, 448 F.2d 378 (4th Cir. 1......
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...or directed verdict. See, e.g., Treutler v. Meredith Corp. (8th Cir. 1972), 455 F.2d 255; Gospel Spreading Church v. Johnson Publishing Co. (1971), 147 U.S.App.D.C. 207, 454 F.2d 1050; Time, Inc. v. Johnston (4th Cir. 1971), 448 F.2d 378; Miller v. News Syndicate Co. (2nd Cir. 1971), 445 F.......