Abraham v. Baldwin’s Empirical Analysis
1906
Citation profile
3 federal appellate · 65 state decisions
How this case has been cited
Cited by 72 later decisions — most recently November 2016 · most notably Layne v. Tribune Co. (1933), 462 So. 2d 803 - Nodar v. Galbreath (1984)
3 federal appellate · 65 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 Byam v. . Collins · Fresh v. Cutter · Coogler v. Rhodes · Harris v. Zanone · Montgomery v. Knox
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 72 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.
“"A communication, although it contains criminating matter, is privileged when made in good faith upon any subject in which the party communicating has an interest, or in reference to which he has a right or duty, if made to a person having a corresponding interest, right, or duty, and made upon an occasion to properly serve such right, interest, or duty, and in a manner and under circumstances fairly warranted by the occasion and the duty, right, or interest, and not so made as to unnecessarily or unduly injure another, or to show express malice. ...... "Good faith, a right, duty, or interest in a proper subject, a proper occasion, and a proper communication to those having a like right, duty, or interest, are all essential to constitute words spoken, that are actionable per se, a privileged communication, so as to make the proof by the plaintiff of express malice essential to liability. In determining whether or not a communication is privileged, the nature of the subject, the right, duty, or interest of the parties in such subject, the time, place, and circumstances of the occasion, and the manner, character, and extent of the communication, should all be considered. When all these facts and circumstances are conceded, a court may decide whether a communication is a privileged one, so as to require the plaintiff to prove express malice... ." Abraham v. Baldwin, 52 Fla. 151 , 42 So. 591 (1906).”
1 later decision quote this exact passage“Whether slanderous words uttered are a privileged communication depends upon the circumstances under which they were uttered, and whether or not the facts and circumstances when conceded, establish the privilege, is a question of law for the court; but when the facts and circumstances under which the communication was made are not conceded, the court cannot as a matter of law determine whether the communication was or was not privileged, and a jury must determine the facts under proper instructions from the court.”
1 later decision quote this exact passagee.g. Lundquist v. Alewine
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.