Thomas v. Shea

This is an action for libel, in which plaintiff recovered a judgment for $3,000. Defendant has appealed.

The libel was published a few days before the general election in 1908, when defendant was a member of the county board of Harlan county, and when plaintiff, to succeed himself as county attorney, was the candidate of the democratic, people’s independent and republican parties. The libel is a six-column document resembling in appearance the front page of a metropolitan daily. It is addressed “To the Taxpayers of Harlan County,” in bold letters nearly an inch high, emphasized by a heavy…