Chapin v. Knight-Ridder, Inc.

OPINION

K.K. HALL, Circuit Judge:

Plaintiffs Roger Chapin and Help Hospitalized Veterans, Inc., appeal the district court’s order granting defendants’ motion to dismiss this libel action. We must decide whether a newspaper article published by defendants can be reasonably read to express the libelous meanings ascribed to it by the plaintiffs. Concluding that it cannot, we affirm.

I

Plaintiff Roger Chapin’s trade is operating charities. He is the president of Citizens for a Drug-Free America (“CDFA”), Project Drug-Free, and co-plaintiff Help Hospitalized Veterans, Inc. (“HHV”). All of these…