Greenbelt Cooperative Publishing Association v. Bresler

Decision Date18 May 1970
Docket NumberNo. 413,413
PartiesGREENBELT COOPERATIVE PUBLISHING ASSOCIATION, Inc., et al., Petitioners, v. Charles S. BRESLER
CourtU.S. Supreme Court

Roger A. Clark, New York City, for petitioners.

Abraham Chasanow, Greenbelt, Md., for respondent.

Mr. Justice STEWART delivered the opinion of the Court.

The petitioners are the publishers of a small weekly newspaper, the Greenbelt News Review, in the city of Greenbelt, Maryland. The respondent Bresler is a prominent local real estate developer and builder in Greenbelt, and was, during the period in question, a member of the Maryland House of Delegates from a neighboring district. In the autumn of 1965 Bresler was engaged in negotiations with the Greenbelt City Council to obtain certain zoning variances that would allow the construction of high-density housing on land owned by him. At the same time the city was attempting to acquire another tract of land owned by Bresler for the construction of a new high school. Extensive litigation concerning compensation for the school site seemed imminent, unless there should be an agreement on its price between Bresler and the city authorities, and the concurrent negotiations obviously provided both parties considerable bargainign leverage.

These joint negotiations evoked substantial local controversy, and several tumultuous city council meetings were held at which many members of the community freely expressed their views. The meetings were reported at length in the news columns of the Greenbelt News Review. Two news articles in consecutive weekly editions of the paper stated that at the public meetings some people had characterized Bresler's negotiating position as 'blackmail.' The word appeared several times both with and without quotation marks, and was used once as a subheading within a news story.1

Bresler reacted to these news articles by filing the present lawsuit for libel, seeking both compensatory and punitive damages. The primary thrust of his complaint was that the articles, individually and along with other items published in the petitioners' newspaper, imputed to him the crime of blackmail. The case went to trial, and the jury awarded Bresler $5,000 in compensatory damages and $12,500 in punitive damages. The Maryland Court of Appeals affirmed the judgment. 253 Md. 324, 252 A.2d 755. We granted certiorari to consider the constitutional issues presented. 396 U.S. 874, 90 S.Ct. 154, 24 L.Ed.2d 133.

In New York Times Co. v. Sullivan, 376 U.S. 254, 84 S.Ct. 710, 11 L.Ed.2d 686, we held that the Constitution permits a 'public official' to recover money damages for libel only if he can show that the defamatory publication was not only false but was uttered with "actual malice'—that is, with knowledge that it was false or with reckless disregard of whether it was false or not.' Id., at 279, 280, 84 S.Ct. at 726. In Curtis Publishing Co. v. Butts, 388 U.S. 130, 87 S.Ct. 1975, 18 L.Ed.2d 1094, we dealt with the constitutional restrictions upon a libel suit brought by a 'public figure.'

In the present case Bresler's counsel conceded in his opening statement to the jury that Bresler was a public figure in the community. This concession was clearly correct. Bresler was deeply involved in the future development of the city of Greenbelt. He had entered into agreements with the city for zoning variances in the past, and was again seeking such favors to permit the construction of housing units of a type not contemplated in the original city plan. At the same time the city was trying to obtain a tract of land owned by Bresler for the purpose of building a school. Negotiations of significant public concern were in progress, both with school officials and the city council. Bresler's status thus clearly fell within even the most restrictive definition of a 'public figure.' Curtis Publishing Co. v. Butts, supra, 154—155, 87 S.Ct. 1991—1992 (opinion of Harlan, J.). See also Pauling v. Globe-Democrat Publishing Co., 8 Cir., 362 F.2d 188, 195—196, cert. denied, 388 U.S. 909, 87 S.Ct. 2097, 18 L.Ed.2d 1347.

Whether as a state legislator representing another county, or for some other reason, Bresler was a 'public official' within the meaning of the New York Times rule is a question we need not determine. Cf. Time, Inc. v. Hill, 385 U.S. 374, 390, 87 S.Ct. 534, 543, 17 L.Ed.2d 456; Rosenblatt v. Baer, 383 U.S. 75, 86 n. 12, 86 S.Ct. 669, 676, 15 L.Ed.2d 597. For the instructions to the jury in this case permitted a finding of liability under an impermissible constitutional standard, whichever status Bresler might be considered to occupy. In his charge to the members of the jury, the trial jduge repeatedly instructed them that Bresler could recover if the petitioners' publications had been made with malice or with a reckless disregard of whether they were true or false. This instruction was given in one form or another half a dozen times during the course of the judge's charge.2 The judge then defined 'malice' to include 'spite, hostility or deliberate intention to harm.' Moreover, he instructed the jury that 'malice' could be found from the 'language' of the publication tiself.3 Thus the jury was permitted to find liability merely on the basis of a combination of falsehood and general hostility.

This was error of constitutional magnitude, as our decisions have made clear. 'This definition of malice is constitutionally insufficient where discussion of public affairs is concerned; '(w)e held in New York Times that a public official might be allowed the civil remedy only if he establishes that the utterance was false and that it was made with knowledge of its falsity or in reckless disregard of whether it was false or true." Rosenblatt v. Baer, supra, at 84, 86 S.Ct. at 675. '(E)ven where the utterance is false, the great principles of the Constitution which secure freedom of expression in this area preclude attaching adverse consequences to any except the knowing or reckless falsehood. Debate on public issues will not be uninhibited if the speaker must run the risk that it will be proved in court that he spoke out of hatred; * * *' Garrison v. Louisiana, 379 U.S. 64, 73, 85 S.Ct. 209, 215, 13 L.Ed.2d 125. See also Beckley Newspapers Corp. v. Hanks, 389 U.S. 81, 82, 88 S.Ct. 197, 198, 19 L.Ed.2d 248. And the constitutional prohibition in this respect is no different whether the plaintiff be considered a 'public official' or a 'public figure.' Curtis Publishing Co. v. Butts, supra.

The erroneous instructions to the jury would, therefore, alone be enough to require the reversal of the judgment before us. For when 'it is impossible to know, in view of the general verdict returned' whether the jury imposed liability on a permissible or an impermissible ground 'the judgment must be reversed and the case remanded.' New York Times Co. v. Sullivan, supra, 376 U.S. at 284, 84 S.Ct. at 728. See Time, Inc. v. Hill, supra, 385 U.S. at 394—397, 87 S.Ct. at 545—547; Rosenblatt v. Baer, supra, 383 U.S. at 82, 86 S.Ct. at 674; Stromberg v. California, 283 U.S. 359, 367 368, 51 S.Ct. 532, 535, 75 L.Ed. 1117.

This, however, does not end the inquiry. As we noted in New York Times, '(t) his Court's duty is not limited to the elaboration of constitutional principles; we must also in proper cases review the evidence to make certain that those principles have been constitutionally applied. * * * We must 'make an independent examination of the whole record,' * * * so as to assure ourselves that the judgment does not constitute a forbidden intrusion on the field of free expression.' 376 U.S., at 285, 84 S.Ct., at 728.

This case involves newspaper reports of public meetings of the citizens of a community concerned with matters of local governmental interest and importance. The very subject matter of the news reports, therefore, is one of particular First Amendment concern. 'The maintenance of the opportunity for free political discussion to the end that government may be responsive to the will of the people and that changes may be obtained by lawful means * * * is a fundamental principle of our constitutional system.' Stromberg v. Cali- fornia, supra, 283 U.S. at 369, 51 S.Ct. at 536. 'Freedom of discussion, if it would fulfill its historic function in this nation, must embrace all issues about which information is needed or appropriate to enable the members of society to cope with the exigencies of their period.' Thornhill v. Alabama, 310 U.S. 88, 102, 60 S.Ct. 736, 744, 84 L.Ed. 1093.4 Because the threat or actual imposition of pecuniary liability for alleged defamation may impair the unfettered exercise of these First Amendment freedoms, the Constitution imposes stringent limitations upon the permissible scope of such liability.5

It is not disputed that the articles published in the petitioners' newspaper were accurate and truthful reports of what had been said at the public hearings before the city council.6 In this sense, therefore, it cannot even be claimed that the petitioners were guilty of any 'departure from the standards of investigation and reporting ordinarily adhered to by responsible publishers,' Curtis Publishing Co. v. Butts, supra, 388 U.S. at 155, 87 S.Ct. at 1991 (opinion of Harlan, J.), much less the knowing use of falsehood or a reckless disregard of whether the statements made were true or false. New York Times Co. v. Sullivan, supra, 376 U.S. at 280, 84 S.Ct. at 726.

The contention is, rather, that the speakers at the meeting, in using the word 'blackmail,' and the petitioners in reporting the use of that word in the newspaper articles, were charging Bresler with the crime of blackmail, and that since the petitioners knew that Bresler had committed no such crime, they could be held liable for the knowing use of falsehood. It was upon this theory that the case was submitted to the jury, and upon this theory that the judgment was affirmed by the Maryland Court of Appeals. 253...

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