Freeman v. Cooper’s Empirical Analysis
1982
Citation profile
1 federal appellate · 35 state decisions
How this case has been cited
Cited by 39 later decisions — most recently April 2018 · most notably Hearst Corporation v. Hughes (1983), 737 So. 2d 706 - Fitzgerald v. Tucker (1999)
1 federal appellate · 35 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 Gertz v. Robert Welch, Inc. · Lescale v. Joseph Schwartz Co. · Waldo v. Morrison · Sabine Tram Co. v. Jurgens · Freeman v. Cooper
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 39 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.
“[a] communication is defamatory if it tends to harm the reputation of another so as to lower him in the estimation of the community. Defamatory communications violate one's right to a good reputation and give rise to a cause of action to recover damages because of the violation.”
2 later decisions quote this exact passage“The learned counsel for appellee invoked the doctrine prevailing in England and in the jurisdiction of some of the courts of this country that every allegation that is pertinent to an issue presented for decision in a judicial proceeding is protected by an absolute privilege, and that such an allegation cannot be a cause of action for libel or slander even though it was a false and injurious accusation, and even though the party making it knew it was false, or had not just or probable cause to believe it to be true. It is sufficient to say that that doctrine has no place in the system of law prevailing in Louisiana. * * * * * * No one has a right to deem appropriate or pertinent to an issue presented for decision in a judicial proceeding a libelous allegation that he knows is false or that he has not just or probable cause to believe is true. (emphasis original and citations omitted)”
1 later decision quote this exact passagee.g. Arledge v. Hendricks“an attorney in Louisiana cannot make disparaging statements, either in pleadings, briefs or arguments, if the defamatory statements are not pertinent to the case or are made maliciously or without reasonable basis.”
1 later decision quote this exact passage
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.