Hays v. Brierly
Supreme Court of Pennsylvania
ERROR to the district court of Alleghany county. This was an action for a libel by Thomas Brierly against David Hays, in which the plaintiff’s declaration, after stating the good character of the plaintiff, thus proceeds: “ yet the said defendant well knowing the premises, but greatly envying,” &c., “and contriving,” &c., “on the 10th day of January 1834, at the county aforesaid, falsely, wickedly and maliciously did write, compose and publish, and did cause, &c., of and…
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ERROR to the district court of Alleghany county. This was an action for a libel by Thomas Brierly against David Hays, in which the plaintiff’s declaration, after stating the good character of the plaintiff, thus proceeds: “ yet the said defendant well knowing the premises, but greatly envying,” &c., “and contriving,” &c., “on the 10th day of January 1834, at the county aforesaid, falsely, wickedly and maliciously did write, compose and publish, and did cause, &c., of and concerning the said plaintiff, in the form of a letter, a certain false, scandalous, malicious and defamatory libel,…
1Opinion of the Court
The opinion of the Court was delivered by
Gibson, C. J.
—Much that might be said here in favour of bringing declarations in slander nearer to convenience and the ordinary comprehension of the profession, was said, in Thompson v. Lusk, and need not be repeated. The pleadings 'in this action were moulded in subservience to the principle of mitior sensus, at a time when vexatious actions for words were so rife that the judges thought themselves bound by policy to discourage them ; and the plaintiff was required not only to prove but to state his cause of action with the precision required in an…
2Cases cited1 opinion
- Van Vechten v. HopkinsNew York Supreme Court · 1809
3Cited by11 opinions
- Zerpol Corp. v. DMP Corp.District Court, E.D. Pennsylvania · 1983
- Pittock & Mills v. O'NiellSupreme Court of Pennsylvania · 1870
- Commonwealth v. Keenan & ClarkSupreme Court of Pennsylvania · 1871
- Clark v. North American Co.Supreme Court of Pennsylvania · 1902
- Lauder v. JonesNorth Dakota Supreme Court · 1904
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