You are here: / / NEWSPAPER ARTICLES ABOUT JUDICIAL PROCEEDINGS ENTITLED TO ABSOLUTE PRIVILEGE...
,

NEWSPAPER ARTICLES ABOUT JUDICIAL PROCEEDINGS ENTITLED TO ABSOLUTE PRIVILEGE (CT APP)

The Court of Appeals determined the newspaper articles about plaintiff and plaintiff’s corporation were entitled to absolute privilege in this defamation action:

This defamation case arose from a series of articles and editorials published by The Buffalo News (News) in 2007 and 2008 concerning a federal investigation, related lawsuits and a guilty plea in federal court by National Air Cargo (NAC), an air freight forwarder, to settle allegations that it had overcharged the federal government on military freight contracts in the continental United States. The newspaper reported that NAC and its owner and chairman, plaintiff Christopher Alf, had admitted that NAC “cheated” the government over a period of several years in the amount of millions of dollars, that NAC would pay almost $28 million in fines and restitution, and that no executives would face jail time. Plaintiff sued for defamation, arguing that the News’s reporting was false and misleading because it reported prolonged wrongdoing as opposed to a single admitted false statement and because the average reader would think that plaintiff had personally engaged in wrongful conduct. Supreme Court granted summary judgment to the newspaper, holding that the News was entitled to the defense of absolute privilege under Civil Rights Law § 74, which provides that “[a] civil action cannot be maintained against any person, firm or corporation, for the publication of a fair and true report of any judicial proceeding.” The Appellate Division affirmed … .We now affirm as well.

… [T]he publication must be considered in its entirety when evaluating the defamatory effect of the words”… . … [V]iewing the articles as a whole, the average reader would conclude that the company, and not plaintiff, pleaded guilty to wrongdoing and that the amount of restitution covered more than the single, admitted incident. As we have said, “newspaper accounts of legislative or other official proceedings must be accorded some degree of liberality. When determining whether an article constitutes a ‘fair and true’ report, the language used therein should not be dissected and analyzed with a lexicographer’s precision” … . Here, the News provided substantially accurate reporting of the plea agreement and the fines and restitution, as discussed in open court. Thus, all the challenged statements concerning NAC and plaintiff relating to these proceedings are entitled to immunity under Civil Rights Law § 74. Alf v Buffalo News, Inc., 2013 NY Slip Op 04843 [21 NY3d 988], CtApp 6-27-13

 

You might also like
The Court’s Failure to Respond to Jury Note Requesting Transcripts of Recorded Phone Calls, Portions of Which Were Translated from Spanish to English, Mandated Reversal
THE JURY NOTE REQUESTED THE “DEFINITIONS” OF THE CHARGED OFFENSES; DEFENSE COUNSEL ASKED THE JUDGE TO ALSO REREAD THE JUSTIFICATION INSTRUCTION IN THIS MURDER CASE; THE JUDGE REFUSED; BECAUSE THE JURY’S NOTE WAS SPECIFIC AND DID NOT REQUEST THE JUSTIFICATION INSTRUCTION, THE JUDGE PROPERLY DENIED DEFENSE COUNSEL’S REQUEST (CT APP).
NO CORAM NOBIS RELIEF FOR DEFENDANT WHERE DEFENSE COUNSEL FILED A NOTICE OF APPEAL BUT ALLEGEDLY DID NOT ADVISE DEFENDANT OF THE AVAILABILITY OF POOR PERSON RELIEF AND DID NOT TAKE ANY ACTION ON A MOTION TO DISMISS THE APPEAL, DEFENDANT DID NOT MEET HIS BURDEN OF PROOF ON THE INEFFECTIVE ASSISTANCE CLAIM (CT APP).
EVEN IF THE OFFICER WERE WRONG ABOUT WHETHER A NON-FUNCTIONING CENTER BRAKE LIGHT VIOLATES THE VEHICLE AND TRAFFIC LAW, THE OFFICER’S INTERPRETATION OF THE LAW WAS OBJECTIVELY REASONABLE; THEREFORE THE STOP WAS VALID AND THE SUPPRESSION MOTION SHOULD NOT HAVE BEEN GRANTED (CT APP).
VIOLATION OF PROBATION PETITION FACIALLY INSUFFICIENT, TIME, PLACE AND MANNER OF ALLEGED VIOLATIONS NOT STATED (CT APP).
THE FINDING THAT MOTHER HAD ABUSED THE CHILDREN WAS BASED ON VIDEO EVIDENCE PURPORTING TO SHOW MOTHER’S EX-BOYFRIEND ABUSING ONE OF THE CHILDREN; THE COURT OF APPEALS REVERSED, FINDING THAT THE VIDEO EVIDENCE WAS NOT AUTHENTICATED (CT APP).
NEGLECT ALLEGATION AGAINST NURSING HOME FOR SYSTEMIC FAILURE PROPERLY FOUND TO BE SUBSTANTIATED, EVEN THOUGH THE RELATED ALLEGATIONS AGAINST TWO EMPLOYEES WERE DEEMED TO BE UNSUBSTANTIATED (CT APP).
Closure of Railroad Crossing Did Not Constitute a Taking of Claimant’s Land

Categories

Sign Up for the Mailing List to Be Notified When the Site Is Updated.

  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Copyright © 2026 New York Appellate Digest, Inc.
Site by CurlyHost | Privacy Policy

THOSE WHO WORK ON MUNICIPAL VESSELS ARE ENTITLED TO THE PREVAILING WAGE PURSUANT... Defendant Should Have Been Adjudicated a Youthful Offender; Waiver of Appeal...