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One of the concepts I teach students in my communications law class at Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne is that of qualified privilege, sometimes called fair report privilege.
The basic concept is that if journalists report accurately and fairly on what happens in government – in Congress or in a City Council meeting or in a courtroom – they are immune from a libel conviction connected to that reporting. The same idea applies to information that journalists obtain from court records and other government documents open to the public.
“The fair report privilege protects media reports of official government actions, regardless of possible defamatory elements in those reports,” Kyu Ho Youm, a First Amendment expert and professor at the University of Oregon, writes in the textbook “Communication and the Law.”
“The rationale is that citizens in a participatory democracy are entitled to such information,” Youm writes.
Courts have upheld the concept. But in a notable exception last July, a Sullivan County jury ordered the Terre Haute Tribune-Star to pay a Clay County deputy sheriff $1.5 million for accurately reporting about a complaint filed against him.
The newspaper had reported – accurately – a woman’s sworn allegations accusing the deputy, Jeff Maynard, of misconduct during a traffic stop. Later, it was proven that another deputy had made the stop. Maynard sued the newspaper for defamation and won.
The newspaper accurately reported that the woman had filed a complaint against Maynard. The newspaper accurately reported that the Indiana State Police were investigating her complaint. The newspaper’s story also reported the other side, with the sheriff saying any such action would have been out of character for Maynard and that the other deputy said it was he, not Maynard, who stopped the woman.
Later, the newspaper accurately reported the sheriff’s announcement that the woman was deceptive in her allegations, that she was charged with false reporting and that Maynard was exonerated.
The jury’s decision to award damages against the newspaper in spite of its accurate reporting sent chills through the journalism community, which regularly – and rightly – reports when official allegations are made against police officers.
The Tribune-Star filed an appeal, which First Amendment experts expected to be successful. But suddenly and surprisingly, the newspaper dropped its appeal. Court records indicate it was dropped after settlement negotiations began.
The newspaper owners aren’t talking about it – out-of-court settlements typically forbid either side to give any terms of the settlement. The Sullivan County ruling does not set a legal precedent, but it is a shame that it never made it to the Indiana Court of Appeals.
The next governor’s race is three years away, but it’s not too early for serious candidates to start laying the groundwork.
Lake County Sheriff Rogelio Dominguez told a group of college students he met with last Friday that he is interested in seeking the Democratic Party’s nomination in 2012. An Hispanic, tough-on-crime candidate could well win the nomination – but he has to do a lot of work on statewide name recognition.
