65 Minn. 87 | Minn. | 1896
Written publications calculated to expose one to public contempt or ridicule,- and thus induce an ill opinion of him, and impair him in the good opinion and respect of others, are libelous, although they involve no imputation of crime, and are actionable without any allegation of special damages. Holston v. Boyle, 46 Minn. 432, 49 N. W. 203; Dressel v. Shipman, 57 Minn. 23, 58 N. W. 684; Wilkes v. Shields, 62 Minn. 426, 64 N. W. 921. This doctrine is as old as the law of libel itself. Cropp v. Tilney, 3 Salk. 225. In this respect, libel differs from slander, where the law, in respect to our natural passions, gives no action for mere defamatory words, which it considers as transitory abuse, and not having substance and body enough to constitute an injury by affecting the reputation.
Applying this principle, and construing the language employed in the sense in which people would ordinarily understand it, we think that the article was clearly libelous. The purpose of holding up the plaintiff as an object of ridicule — one of the most potent shafts of
Order reversed.