Re: Case Studies

Sheldon Hapern writes:
>
> Here again we're dealing with very specific kinds of immunities and
> privileges. The court, in writing its opinion, however misguided it may
> be, is absolutely privileged (i.e., immune) from liability; one who
> reports on that proceeding is also privileged (by a different recognized
> privilege). A complaint, as part of a legal proceeding, is immune.
> Jurisdictions differ, however, as to when the immunity attaches (e.g.,
> upon filing, serving the complaint, etc.) I doubt that anyone would
> immunize a prospective complaint shown to students (nor is there any
> reason to do so, pedagogical or otherwise, if the content is defamatory).
> The issue is, and ought to be complicated since, at bottom, someone's
> reputation is involved.
>

I agree that judicial opinions are absolutely privleged and that to my knowledge reporting on the filing of a complaint would also be privileged. Also, I willing concede that there is no articulated privilege for class room discussion. Yet I still feel relatively comfortable in discussing matters in a classroom that are reported in the media without fear of libel suits. Indeed, I often use hypotheticals that might arguably be libelous because the situations are drawn from widely reported events so that the atribution by name is not really relevant - everyone knows to whom the hypo refers.

Perhaps I live in a fool's paradise but I just don't believe that I have much to worry about absent the wilfull disclosure of defamatory material relating to a student in my class (a sharp hypo suggested by another participant on this list). I wonder why I have given this matter so little attention given the applicable legal princples.

I suspect that Sheldon is correct in stating that many cases are covered by other privileges. In other situations the person libeled is arguably a public figure. Also, I feel that a plaintiff could not show much in the way of damages from such a republication. In any event I have not been persuaded that I should change my practice of using newsworthy items in my class even though those matters may be defamatory.

  Don Berman --  

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