More v. Bennett
New York Supreme Court
APPEAL from an order made at a special term dismissing the plaintiff’s complaint. The action was for ah alleged libel published in the New York Herald, of which the defendant is the proprietor. It is contained in a letter from the widow of a Colonel Kimball, which was Tm^sfcftdin that newspaper.
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APPEAL from an order made at a special term dismissing the plaintiff’s complaint. The action was for ah alleged libel published in the New York Herald, of which the defendant is the proprietor. It is contained in a letter from the widow of a Colonel Kimball, which was Tm^sfcftdin that newspaper. The writer, after referrmg^^e^^g^^tiers relating to her deceased husband, saysi '^Atnong the papers referred to, as returned to me, are A ^i-'||S^)|mers scattered indiscriminately among the eéiéfs, and'returnee» to me after being in the hands of a pnbst^ii^ hands, too, are other household relics…
1Opinion of the CourtClerke, J.
Undoubtedly our law, like the Eoman law, recognizes a very marked distinction between spoken slander and slander communicated by pictures or signs or writing, or printing, or that published in books or newspapers. Hatter calculated to cast ridicule on a man, or to degrade him in the opinion of his acquaintances, or of the community, is libellous, if written or printed and published ; although, if only spoken, it may not be actionable. For instance : to accuse a man, orally, of being a liar, even in the presence of hundreds, .is not actionable, per se ; but to say of him in .an article…
2Cases cited3 opinions
- Hunt v. . BennettNew York Court of Appeals · 1859
- Steele v. SouthwickNew York Supreme Court · 1812
- Brooks v. BemissNew York Supreme Court · 1811