Hugo Black

“ This he had a right to do but in doing so he should have no greater privilege than his critic. The plaintiffs in this case at most received qualified privilege for their complaints to Congress, [3] yet the Captain's answer is given absolute privilege.
As my dissent in Barr v. Matteo indicates, the burden of proof is on the defendant to sustain his claim of privilege. 360 U.S. at page 564, 79 S.Ct. at page 1335. I do not read this record as placing a mandatory duty on Captain Howard to make the report in question to Congress. ”

“ Notes
↑ I agree with the Court in its determination that federal law controls this matter.↑ 'Navy agencies' is defined in paragraph 2b of the same letter as follows:↑ See, e.g., Sweeney v. Higgins, 117 Me. 415, 104 A. 791 ”