Clarke v. Jones
Supreme Court of Iowa
Appeal from Kossuth District Court. The petition states that “plaintiff, for cause of action against the defendant, states the defendant, J. B. Jones, maliciously and unlawfully wrote and composed the false, scandalous and libelous article hereinafter set forth, which article was by the defendant caused to be published in an issue of' the Algona Republican, a weekly newspaper published at Algona, Kossuth county, Iowa, of general circulation, November 1, 1876, tending to…
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Appeal from Kossuth District Court. The petition states that “plaintiff, for cause of action against the defendant, states the defendant, J. B. Jones, maliciously and unlawfully wrote and composed the false, scandalous and libelous article hereinafter set forth, which article was by the defendant caused to be published in an issue of' the Algona Republican, a weekly newspaper published at Algona, Kossuth county, Iowa, of general circulation, November 1, 1876, tending to provoke plaintiff to wrath, expose him to public hatred, contempt and ridicule, and to deprive him of the benefit of public…
1Opinion of the CourtSeevers, J.
1. libel: pleading. The appellee claims that the matter stricken out constituted, under the old forms of pleading, the innuendo, an(l that cannot enlarge the meaning of the words. It is also insisted that this is true under our statute. Under the common law form of pleading the meaning or defamatory sense of the words was to be ascertained from the words themselves, the colloquium, and the extrinsic matters alleged in the pleading.
The innuendo could point or fix the meaning of the words, but never enlarge it. If the words in their ordinary sense were not defamatory, but were in fact so used,…
2Cases cited2 opinions
- Kinyon v. PalmerSupreme Court of Iowa · 1865
- Swearingen v. StanleySupreme Court of Iowa · 1867
3Cited by3 opinions
- Senninger v. RowleySupreme Court of Iowa · 1908
- Nelson Ex Rel. Nelson v. MelvinSupreme Court of Iowa · 1945
- Rhodes v. NagleeCalifornia Supreme Court · 1885