Foot v. Pitt
Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of the State of New York
Appeal by the defendant, William R. Pitt, from an interlocutory-judgment of the Supreme Court in favor of the plaintiff, entered in. the office of the cleric of the county of Westchester on the 9th day of October, 1902, upon the decision of the court, rendered after a. trial at the Westchester Special Term, overruling the defendant’s, demurrer to the complaint.
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Appeal by the defendant, William R. Pitt, from an interlocutory-judgment of the Supreme Court in favor of the plaintiff, entered in. the office of the cleric of the county of Westchester on the 9th day of October, 1902, upon the decision of the court, rendered after a. trial at the Westchester Special Term, overruling the defendant’s, demurrer to the complaint. The action is for libel, and the publication complained of was as. follows: “ Eew Rochelle, E. Y., Mar. 6th, 1901. “ To the Editor of The Paragraph: “ Dear Sir.— I notice that Mr. James D. Foot, the enterprising- and public-spirited…
1Opinion of the Court
Willard Bartlett, J.:
The only question presented by this appeal is whether the publication of which the plaintiff complains is libelous $>er se. In my opinion the language, when considered in its natural and ordinary meaning, is not defamatory and will not sustain an action for libel in the absence of an allegation of special damage. It does not charge the plaintiff with having done anything which he had not a legal right to do. The gravamen of the publication is that the plaintiff has endeavored to procure the enactment of a law which will relieve him of a sewer assessment and impose the…
2Cases cited3 opinions
- Homer v. EngelhardtMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1875
- Urban v. HelmickWashington Supreme Court · 1896
- People v. JeromeMichigan Supreme Court · 1848
3Cited by6 opinions
- Bigelow v. BrumleyOhio Supreme Court · 1941
- Bennet v. . Commercial Advertiser Assn.New York Court of Appeals · 1920
- Pace v. ReboreAppellate Division of the Supreme Court of the State of New York · 1985
- Miller v. RadinAppellate Division of the Supreme Court of the State of New York · 1969
- Kahn v. ShawAppellate Division of the Supreme Court of the State of New York · 1962
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