Cornett v. Fetzer’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

6 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 7 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “Through Article 1, Section 6, of the United States Constitution, the concept of absolute privilege is conferred upon members of Congress with respect to defamatory matters published in the performance of their legislative function. 50 A.L.R.2d, Libel and Slander, § 221. The Constitution of this State also embodies the concept of absolute privilege in Tenn. Const. Art. 2, § 13: Senators and Representatives shall, in all eases, except treason, felony, or breach of the peace, be privileged from arrest during the session of the General Assembly, and in going to and returning from the same; and for any speech or debate in either House, they shall not be questioned in any other place. These constitutional provisions reflect the obvious policy determination that the im portance of legislators freely speaking their minds outweighs the countervailing argument that those people who are defamed should be able to recover damages for injury to their reputations. We feel that the above policy is equally relevant and should apply with equal weight with regard to subordinate legislative bodies. Such lesser legislative entities make important social and economic decisions that many times affect our lives to a greater degree than do decisions made by our state legislators and congressmen. If the utterances of members of the legislative bodies such as city councils are not cloaked with an absolute privilege, an unwarranted consideration— personal monetary liability — will be interjected into a ”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. Boody v. Garrison

2. “Such lesser legislative entities make important social and economic decisions that many times affect our lives to a greater degree than do decisions made by our state legislators and congressmen. If the utterances of members of the legislative bodies such as city councils are not cloaked with an absolute privilege, an unwarranted consideration-personal monetary liability-will be interjected into a councilman’s decision making process. This, we feel, would have the unavoidable effect of inhibiting the independent and forceful debate out of which decisions which best serve the interests of the populace are borne. [[Image here]] The absolute privilege which we hold applicable in the case at bar does not give a member of a subordinate legislative body the right to use his or her position as a forum for private slanders against others. Since one reason behind granting a privilege such as we have granted today is to insure an uninhibited debate concerning matters before a legislative body, it follows that such a privilege is applicable only if the defamatory remarks are made relating to matters within the scope of that body’s authority. In the case at bar, appellee’s remarks were certainly within council’s legitimate legislative sphere as they were made with reference to the proposed budget of the school board, a budget which had to be approved or disapproved by city council. It is not the purpose of this Court to license malicious defamers. However, we feel the policy choice we ma”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. Bassam Issa v. Jack Benson, Sr.

3. “It does indeed go without saying that an official, who is in fact guilty of using his powers to vent his spleen upon others, or for any other personal motive not connected with the public good, should not escape liability for the injuries he may so cause; and, if it were possible in practice to confine such complaints to the guilty, it would be monstrous to deny recovery. The justification for doing so is that it is impossible to know whether the claim is well founded until the case has been tried, and that to submit all officials, the innocent as well as the guilty, to the burden of a trial and to the inevitable danger of its outcome, would dampen the ardor of all but the most resolute, or the most irresponsible, in the unflinching discharge of their duties. Again and again the public interest calls for action which may turn out to be founded on a mistake, in the face of which an official may later find himself hard put to it to satisfy a jury of his good faith. There must indeed be means of punishing public officers who have been truant to their duties; but that is quite another matter from exposing such as have been honestly mistaken to suit by anyone who has suffered from their errors. As is so often the case, the answer must be found in a balance between the evils inevitable in either alternative. In this instance it has been thought in the end better to leave unredressed wrongs done by dishonest officers than to subject those who try to do their duty to the constant dre”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. Sanchez v. Coxon