Costello v. Ocean County Observer’s Empirical Analysis
1994
Citation profile
2 district · 87 state decisions
How this case has been cited
Cited by 97 later decisions — most recently May 2018 · most notably Brill v. Guardian Life Insurance Co. of America (1995), 221 Ill. 2d 558 - Solaia Technology, LLC v. Specialty Publishing Co. (2006)
2 district · 87 state decisions
Later decisions citing this case, by decade. The current decade is in progress, and our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so the latest bars are undercounted — not a real decline.
Relationships
Relies on Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc. · New York Times Co. v. Sullivan · St. Amant v. Thompson · Curtis Publishing Co. v. Butts · Rosenblatt v. Baer
Most-quoted passages
The sentences later courts lift from this opinion, ranked by how many decisions quote each — the parts of the opinion doing the work. These counts are smaller than the citation total above because most of the 97 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.
“Although courts construe the evidence in the light most favorable to the non-moving party in a summary judgment motion, the `clear and convincing' standard in defamation action[s] adds an additional weight to the plaintiffs' usual `preponderance of the evidence' burden.”
9 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the majority“[F]or the privilege to apply, “[i]t is not necessary that [the account] be exact in every immaterial detail.... It is enough that it conveys to the persons who read it a substantially correct account of the [contents of the official document].” Thus, the fair-report privilege provides protection even though an article may not be accurate in every conceivable aspect. In addition to being accurate, a report must also be fair. A report that is accurate may not be edited and deleted in a way that renders its contents misleading. Fairness requires that although the report need not be exhaustive, “it is necessary that nothing be omitted or misplaced in such a manner as to convey an erroneous impression to those who hear or read it.” Although a reporter is allowed to make factual errors and omissions, the fair-report privilege will not protect a story if the errors and omissions mislead readers.”
6 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the majority“To determine whether a genuine issue of material fact exists regarding actual malice, a court must consider whether the plaintiff has produced the `quantum and quality of proof' necessary under the New York Times v. Sullivan standard.”
4 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the majority
How this case has been treated — in progress
Whether each later court followed, distinguished, criticized, or overruled this decision. The treatment classification (task #35) runs highest-cited cases first and lights up here as it reaches this one.