Cartwright v. Garrison

Plaintiff, Gene J. Cartwright, appeals from the trial court’s dismissal of his complaint, which alleged he had been defamed by defendant, Charles Garrison. Plaintiff raises the following issues on appeal: (1) whether the statement made by defendant was incapable of an innocent construction; (2) whether the innocent-construction rule should be replaced with a reasonable-construction rule.

Plaintiff’s complaint alleged that plaintiff was the superintendent of the Zion-Benton High School, District No. 126, Lake County, Illinois, and that defendant was a member of that district’s school board.…