John M. Walker, Jr.

Name: Church of Scientology v. Behar — Opinion of the Court
Author: John M. Walker, Jr.

Church of Scientology v. Behar… (2001)

Summary

“Church of Scientology v. Behar — Opinion of the Court”, published in 2001, is a work by John M. Walker, Jr.. It explores elements such as Fishman, actual malice and Behar.

Quotes from Church of Scientology v. Behar… (John M. Walker, Jr.)

John M. Walker, Jr., Church of Scientology v. Behar… (2001)

“ By contrast with the incremental harm doctrine, the subsidiary meaning doctrine does "bear upon" whether a defendant has acted with actual malice. In Herbert, for example, this court held that nine of eleven allegedly libelous statements were not actionable because they were not maliciously published; the published statements were backed by evidence that was not known to be false, and as to the reliability of which the defendants had not shown reckless disregard. ”

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Source: Wikisource

John M. Walker, Jr., Church of Scientology v. Behar… (2001)

“ CSI concedes that it is a public figure; therefore to prevail it must show that the statements it complains of were (1) of and concerning CSI, (2) likely to be understood as defamatory by the ordinary person, (3) false, and (4) published with actual malice, that is, either knowledge of falsity or reckless disregard of the truth. See id. In contrast, a private plaintiff need only prove that false and defamatory statements of and concerning the plaintiff were made with gross negligence. ”

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Source: Wikisource

John M. Walker, Jr., Church of Scientology v. Behar… (2001)

“ If it cannot be shown that the defendant knew that the statements were false, a plaintiff must demonstrate that the defendant made the statements with reckless disregard of whether they were true or false. The reckless conduct needed to show actual malice "is not measured by whether a reasonably prudent man would have published, or would have investigated before publishing," St. ”

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Source: Wikisource

John M. Walker, Jr., Church of Scientology v. Behar… (2001)

“ In any event, the Article does not present Fishman's claim as undisputed fact, but rather makes clear that Scientology denies the truth of Fishman and Dr. Geertz's charges. In view of the extensive research Behar conducted, and the fact that the death threat was accurately reported as an allegation, we agree with the district court that no reasonable jury could find that Behar had published the statements about the stock scam or the murder-suicide allegation with purposeful avoidance of the truth. ”

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Source: Wikisource

John M. Walker, Jr., Church of Scientology v. Behar… (2001)

“ The incremental harm doctrine at issue in Masson reasons that when unchallenged or non-actionable parts of a publication are damaging, an additional statement, even if maliciously false, might be non-actionable because it causes no appreciable additional harm. ”

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Source: Wikisource

John M. Walker, Jr., Church of Scientology v. Behar… (2001)

“ Both men claim that when arrested, Fishman was ordered by the church to kill Geertz and then do an 'EOC,' or end of cycle, which is church jargon for suicide."
Paragraph 52 of the Complaint
5. "One source of funds for the Los Angeles-based church is the notorious, self-regulated stock exchange in Vancouver, British Columbia, often called the scam capital of the world."
6. "Baybak, 49, who runs a public relations company staffed with Scientologists, apparently has no ethics problem with engineering a hostile takeover of a firm he is hired to promote." ”

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Source: Wikisource

John M. Walker, Jr., Church of Scientology v. Behar… (2001)

“ The Article, written by defendant-appellee Richard Behar ("Behar") , was highly critical of Scientology, which it described as "pos [ing] as a religion" but being "really a ruthless global scam," and narrated various instances of wrongdoing by a number of individual Scientologists. CSI filed a complaint alleging libel against Behar and defendants-appellees Time Inc. Magazine Co. and its parent company Time Warner, Inc. (collectively, "Time") . The complaint alleged as false and defamatory the following statements from the Article:
Paragraph 40 of the Complaint
1. " [T] he church ... ”

John M. Walker, Jr.

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Quotes from Church of Scientology v. Behar… (John M. Walker, Jr.)

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