Hutchinson v. Proxmire, 76-C-257.
| Decision Date | 22 April 1977 |
| Docket Number | No. 76-C-257.,76-C-257. |
| Citation | 431 F. Supp. 1311 |
| Parties | Ronald R. HUTCHINSON, Plaintiff, v. William PROXMIRE and Morton Schwartz, Defendants. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Western District of Wisconsin |
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Michael E. Cavanaugh, Fraser, Trebilcock, Davis & Foster, Lansing, Mich., Carroll Metzner, Madison, Wis., for plaintiff.
Bradway A. Liddle, Jr., Boardman, Suhr, Curry & Field, Madison, Wis., Alan Raywid, Cole, Zylstra & Raywid, Washington, D.C., for defendants.
This is a suit by a research scientist against a United States Senator, and one of his administrative assistants, seeking eight million dollars in damages for alleged slander, libel, malicious interference with contractual relations, malicious conduct or conduct with grossly negligent disregard for the truth, invasion of rights to privacy, and intentional infliction of emotional anguish. Jurisdiction is invoked under 28 U.S.C. § 1332(a)(1). When this suit was filed the presiding district judge recused himself, and this court was appointed to sit by designation.
Thereafter, the United States Senator moved, in the alternative, for summary judgment. Therefore, the question to be decided is whether the motion, pleadings, depositions, exhibits, and affidavits disclose there is no genuine issue of material fact and that movant is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. However, to answer this question, this court must resolve three issues. 1. Whether the investigative activities of the United States Senator in connection with his duties as a member of Senate subcommittees were privileged. 2. Whether a press release issued by the United States Senate Service Department and containing the substance of a Senate floor speech by the United States Senator was privileged under the speech or debate clause of the United States constitution. 3. Whether the statements made by the United States Senator to his constituents and in a television appearance were libelous or defamatory. The material facts are as follows.1
The plaintiff, Dr. Ronald R. Hutchinson, is a research scientist, president of the Foundation for Behavioral Research, a non-profit organization, former director of research at Kalamazoo State Hospital, Fort Custer State Home, and former adjunct associate professor of psychology at Western Michigan University. From 1966 to 1975, he directed research projects under federal grants from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the National Institute for Mental Health (NIMH), the National Institute for Drug Abuse (NIDA), the National Science Foundation (NSF), and the Office of Naval Research (ONR). These projects were investigations into various aspects of animal and human aggression.
Defendant William Proxmire is the senior United States Senator from Wisconsin. Among his congressional duties is service on subcommittees of the Senate Committee on Appropriations which have jurisdiction and review of budget and appropriations for ONR, NASA, NSF, NIDA, and NIMH. As a member of these subcommittees, he votes on appropriations for government obligations and makes recommendations regarding expenditures. Defendant Morton Schwartz is Senator Proxmire's administrative assistant in legislative matters. His duties include research into efficiency in domestic government spending so that he can make recommendations to his superiors on the desirability of particular appropriations.
Early in 1975, Senator Proxmire directed his staff to gather information on wasteful government spending and provide him with at least one example each month so he could dramatize it, call it to the attention of his colleagues, and thus discourage it. To this end, while speaking on the Senate floor in March, 1975, he established what he called the "Golden Fleece of the Month Award," a program through which he made monthly announcements of wasteful government spending identified by his staff. These announcements were routinely accompanied by a press release publicizing his selection for the award.
The Senate Service Department, under the Senate Sergeant-at-Arms, duplicates and distributes senatorial press releases after reviewing them for conformity with Senate regulations governing use of the mailing frank. Senator Proxmire's office routinely supplies the Service Department with a copy of a proposed release and a list of distributees composed at the Senator's direction with the view toward conveying information to his constituents, to interested segments of the news media, and his colleagues, either directly or through their constituents. Senator Proxmire established and approved the procedure by which his news releases were sent to the Senate Service Department for duplication and distribution.
In March 1975, Mr. Schwartz learned of Dr. Hutchinson's research from Dr. D. Greenburg, editor of a social science publication who had read of plaintiff's work in NTIS, a weekly abstract of government studies and publications. The NTIS abstract referred to two publications by NASA giving details of Dr. Hutchinson's research, both of which Mr. Schwartz subsequently obtained by mail from NASA's Congressional Liaison Officer, Mr. William Allen. The NASA publications cited other research conducted by plaintiff with grants from ONR, NSF, and the Michigan State Department of Mental Health. Mr. Schwartz contacted ONR, and NSF seeking information concerning this research. He spoke with Dr. Robert Woodward of ONR and Mr. Richard Wilson, Congressional Liaison Officer for NSF, inquiring into their reasons for supporting Dr. Hutchinson's projects. At all times, he identified himself as a member of Senator Proxmire's staff. Mr. Schwartz' review of the documents he obtained uncovered one grant to the plaintiff by NIMH, and the additional information that NIMH had rejected all but one 1962 research application Dr. Hutchinson had made to that agency. Having decided that the federal fundings of plaintiff's research constituted a potential "Golden Fleece of the Month Award," Mr. Schwartz spent approximately forty hours over a four-week period reviewing documents and preparing a draft of his findings. During this time, he contacted various state and federal agencies to inquire about the structure of the fundings and to determine their justification.
On or about April 11, 1975, defendant Schwartz telephoned NIMH, and was informed by Mr. Joseph Bracket that other than an expired 1962 grant, plaintiff's research had not been funded by that agency. After this inquiry, Dr. Hutchinson received from NIMH a $11,554 three-year grant commencing on June 1, 1975. Three days later, Mr. Schwartz made telephone calls to various agencies. He contacted the Michigan State Department of Mental Health to inquire about the structure of plaintiff's state fundings. He telephoned NIDA where he was informed that it did not fund any of plaintiff's projects.2 He telephoned Mr. Fred Stollnitz of NSF and discussed the possibility of that agency receiving a Golden Fleece of the Month Award for its part in the funding of plaintiff's research. Mr. Stollnitz' telephone log of the conversation reveals that Mr. Schwartz criticized the NSF funding, stating that plaintiff's research was obvious and duplicatively funded by ONR; and that NIMH had not granted plaintiff any funds. On April 15, Mr. Schwartz telephoned Mr. Stollnitz to inform him that NSF definitely would receive the award and made comments about what he called Dr. Hutchinson's "grantsmanship." This having been done, a draft of the "Golden Fleece of the Month Award" for April 1975 was prepared and submitted for review by Senator Proxmire and Mr. Howard Shuman, another of his administrative assistants. After some editing, the award draft was finalized and approved. A copy of the news release concerning the award was sent to the Senate Service Department by Mr. Shuman on April 15 for release on the morning of April 18, 1975.3
On or about April 15, Mr. Schwartz telephoned Dr. Hutchinson, told him of the planned "Golden Fleece Award" and read him the text of the press release. Plaintiff objected that he thought it did not fairly evaluate his work and that his name was misspelled. As was his custom, Senator Proxmire made the award the subject of a Senate floor speech in which he stated that NSF, ONR, and NASA had spent:
In the next newsletter he mailed to his constituents following the release, Senator Proxmire told them of the April award. The news item was in the following language:
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