George v. Fabri’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

136 state decisions

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 136 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “The constitutional guarantee of free speech requires that a public official or public figure must prove a defamatory statement was made “with ‘actual malice’ — that is, with knowledge that it was false or with reckless disregard of whether it was false or not.” At trial, the plaintiff must prove actual malice by clear and convincing evidence.”

   2 later decisions quote this exact passage
   e.g. Erickson v. Jones Street Publishers, LLC · Boone v. Sunbelt Newspapers, Inc.

2. “if the pleadings, depositions, answers to interrogatories, and admissions on file, together with the affidavits, if any, show that there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and ... the moving party is entitled to a judgment as a matter of law.”

   2 later decisions quote this exact passage
   e.g. Wright v. PRG Real Estate Mgmt., Inc. · Carolina Renewal, Inc. v. South Carolina Department of Transportation

3. “Actual malice is a subjective standard testing the publisher's good faith belief in the truth of his or her statements. The constitutional actual malice standard requires a public official to prove by clear and convincing evidence that the defamatory falsehood was made with the knowledge of its falsity or with reckless disregard for its truth. A "reckless disregard" for the truth, however, requires more than a departure from reasonably prudent conduct. There must be sufficient evidence to permit the conclusion that the defendant in fact entertained serious doubts as to the truth of his publication. There must be evidence the defendant had a high degree of awareness of ... probable falsity. Failure to investigate before publishing, even when a reasonably prudent person would have done so, is not sufficient to establish reckless disregard. Actual malice may be present, however, where one fails to investigate and there are obvious reasons to doubt the veracity of the informant.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. Erickson v. Jones Street Publishers, LLC