Western Union Telegraph Co. v. Cashman
Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit
In Error to ¿the Circuit Court of the United States for the Southern District of Mississippi. The defendant in error is the editor and publisher of a newspaper m Vicksburg, Miss., .called the “Vicksburg Evening Post.”
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In Error to ¿the Circuit Court of the United States for the Southern District of Mississippi. The defendant in error is the editor and publisher of a newspaper m Vicksburg, Miss., .called the “Vicksburg Evening Post.” On October 31, 1901, he published in said paper a special telegram from Jackson, Miss., as follows: “Jackson, Miss., Oct. 31. — Word reaches here from Oxford that Miss Lucy Leeton, the woman who filed' a sensational breach of promise suit against former United States Senator W. V. Sullivan several months ago, will leave. Washington in a few days to prosecute case, and that she…
1Opinion of the CourtPardee, Circuit Judge
(after stating the facts). The case shows that the defendant in error published in his paper in Vicksburg a libel on Ex-Senator Sullivan, just as a matter of news and a matter of general interest as he says, and having no reason to doubt its truth.. Ex-Senator Sullivan, at Oxford, Miss., vigorously denying the truth of the article, and apparently thinking himself well informed as to his facts, responded with the telegraphic message heretofore set out. The defendant in error took time to deliberate and then published in his newspaper the two libels, with characteristic comments from his…
2Cases cited1 opinion
- White v. NichollsSupreme Court of the United States · 1845
3Cited by5 opinions
- Flynn v. Western Union Telegraph Co.Wisconsin Supreme Court · 1929
- Lesesne v. WillinghamDistrict Court, E.D. South Carolina · 1949
- Gelhaus v. Eastern Air Lines, Inc.Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit · 1952
- Western Union Telegraph Co. v. BrownCourt of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit · 1923
- Von Meysenbug v. Western Union Telegraph Co.District Court, S.D. Florida · 1944