Supreme Court of the United States. CHURCH OF SCIENTOLOGY INTERNATIONAL, Petitioner, v. TIME WARNER, INC., Time Inc. Magazine Company and Richard Behar, Respondents. No. 00-1683. July 9, 2001. On Petition for Writ of Certiorari to the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit
Respondents' Brief in Opposition
Floyd Abrams [FN*], Dean Ringel, Janet A. Beer, Cahill Gordon & Reindel, 80 Pine Street, New York, New York 10005, (212) 701-3000, Attorneys for Respondents. Of Counsel: Robin Bierstedt Time Inc., 1271 Avenue of the Americas, New York, New York 10020.
FN* Counsel of Record
QUESTIONS PRESENTED
1. Whether the Court of Appeals properly applied New York Times Co. v. Sullivan, 376 U.S. 254 (1964), to determine that a reasonable jury could not find statements at issue in this libel case to have been made with actual malice where defendant journalists relied upon (i) prior judicial rulings, affidavits and previously published articles and (ii) extensive interviewing of participants in the events described, when plaintiff repeatedly refused to discuss the statements it later claimed to be false and defamatory. 2. Whether the Court of Appeals properly applied New York Times Co. v. Sullivan, supra, in affirming the grant of summary judgment dismissing a libel claim with respect to a single sentence that it concluded was subsidiary in meaning to other nonactionable statements made without actual malice. 3. Whether in this diversity case, an effort by a public figure to secure adjudication of a libel claim without proof of actual malice by limiting the claim to "nominal damages" was properly presented by way of untimely motions under Rule 54(b) or later under Rule 15(a), Fed. R. Civ. P. where (i) no such claim had appeared in the complaint and (ii) granting the motions would have resulted in prejudice and delay and the asserted claim lacked a federal jurisdictional basis. 4. Whether, even if properly presented as a matter of procedure and subject matter jurisdiction, a public figure may, consistent with New York Times Co. v. Sullivan, supra, prosecute a libel action without proof of actual malice by limiting its claim to one for "nominal damages."
LIST OF PARTIES BELOW
All parties appear in the caption of the case on the cover page.
RULE 29.6 STATEMENT
Pursuant to Rule 29.6 of the Rules of this Court, Respondents state as follows: AOL Time Warner Inc., a publicly held Delaware company, is the successor company to Time Warner Inc. Time Inc., a Delaware company, is the successor company to Time Inc. Magazine Company. Time Inc. is indirectly wholly owned by AOL Time Warner Inc. AOL Time Warner Inc. has no parent company, and no publicly held company owns 10 percent or more of its stock.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Questions Presented ... i
List of Parties Below ... ii
Rule 29.6 Statement ... ii
Table of Authorities ... v
Counterstatement of the Case ... 1
The Proceedings Below ... 1
Facts ... 5
Reasons for Denying the Writ ... 9
Summary of Argument ... 9
I. The Court of Appeals' Treatment of a Speaker's Belief in His Statement as Supporting the Absence of Actual Malice Is Consistent with This Court's Decisions and Presents No Conflict Among the Circuits ... 11
A. The "Intimidation" Statements ... 14
B. The Fishman Statements ... 17
II. The Dismissal of a Statement Because It Was Subsidiary in Meaning to Statements Held to Have Been Made Without Actual Malice Does Not Conflict with This Court's Decision in Masson Nor with Decisions of Any Other Circuit ... 21
III. This Court Should Not Entertain the Contention That a Public Figure Libel Plaintiff May Avoid the Actual Malice Requirement by Claiming Only Nominal Damages ... 26
Conclusion ... 30
TABLE OF AUTHORITIES
CASES
Acha v. Beame, 570 F.2d 57 (2d Cir. 1978) ... 27
Barrows v. Forest Laboratories, Inc., 742 F.2d 54 (2d Cir. 1984) ... 28
Baybak v. Time Warner Inc., et al., No. 92 Civ. 3041 (S.D.N.Y. filed April 27, 1992) ... 2-3
Curtiss-Wright Corp. v. General Electric Co., 446 U.S. 1 (1980) ... 27
Fulani v. New York Times Co., 260 A.D. 2d 215, 686 N.Y.S.2d 703 (N.Y. App. Div. 1999) ... 23n
Gertz v. Robert Welch, Inc., 418 U.S. 323 (1974) ... 29
Harte-Hanks Communications, Inc. v. Connaughton, 491 U.S. 657 (1989) ... 12, 13, 13n
Herbert v. Lando, 441 U.S. 153 (1979) ... 30n
Herbert v. Lando, 781 F.2d 298 (2d Cir.), cert. denied, 476 U.S. 1182 (1986) ... 23, 24, 25-26