Newspaper Editorial is Opinion — Not Libel

The New York State Court of Appeals dismissed a libel case against an independent newspaper — in which the plaintiff had already been awarded a substantial damages verdict at trial — because the statements made were merely opinion.

The newspaper printed an editor’s note stating that the plaintiff, Monroe Mann, the town attorney, was the true power behind the throne in the town’s politics, was a “political hatchet Mann,” and was leading the town to destruction.  

The Court reiterated the three major factors in determining what constitutes opinion: whether the language used has a precise meaning; whether the statement is capable of being proven true or false; and whether in the full context of the statement readers understand that the statement is opinion rather than fact.

The Court of Appeals emphasized that the key to determining whether a statement is opinion or fact is its context, and that figurative or hyperbolic language is not determinative.

The decision affirms existing New York law, which generally gives broad protection to opinions.