125 Ky. 457 | Ky. Ct. App. | 1907
Opinion op the Court by
Affirming.
S. A. Ranson was a common school trustee in Christian county, and was succeeded by J. M. West. After West entered upon his duties as trustee, the following letter was written to the county school superintendent,. Miss Katie McDaniel; “Crofton, Ky., October 15, 1904: Miss Katie: Enclosed yon will find statement of appraisers of the work S. A. Ranson did for our district. The people'complain so much that we, the board of trustees, decided to have this done to assist you in making him pay back to the district the money that belongs to them. He also spent a considerable amount of money collected for incidental purposes unjustly. You will please have him to itemize his
In McGee v. Wilson, 16 Ky. 187, this court said: “It does not follow that the libel is pot actionable because words of similar import when spoken are held •not to be so; for the rule with respect to written slander is different from that which prevails when it is only verbal. Words, to be actionable when spoken of a person not in any office, trade, or profession, must imply the imputation of an offense which would subject him to corporal, or other infamous punishment; but words, when written, if they tend to degrade or disgrace, or to render odious or ridiculous the person of whom they are written, will be libelous, and consequently actionable.” The same rule was announced in Shelton v. Nance, 46 Ky. 129. and in Riley v. Lee, 88 Ky. 610, 11 S. W. 714, 11 Ky. Law Rep. 586, 21 Am. St. Rep. 358, the court, after referring to die authorities on the question, thus laid down the rule: “ So it may be regarded as thoroughly settled that if the written or printed publication tends to degrade the person about whom it is wiitten or
Privileged communications are divided into two classes: (1) Cases absolutely privileged, so that no action will lie, even though it be averred that the injurious publication was both false and malicious. (2) Cases privileged, but only to this extent: That the circumstances are held to preclude any presumption of malice, but still leave the party responsible if both falsehood and malice are affirmatively shown.” Cooley on Torts (3d Ed.) 425. See, also, to same effect, Townshend on Slander and Libel, section 209. “The class known as absolutely privileged occasion is comparatively a narrow one, and, speaking generally, is strictly confined to legislative proceedings, judicial proceedings in the esiablished courts of justice, acts of state, and acts done in the exercise of military and naval authority.” 18 Am. & Eng. Ency. of Law, 1023. All other privileged communications except those named belong to the second class, or-are conditionally privileged. Anything that an officer says in a report to 'his superior in the discharge of his duty is privileged, and no action can be maintained upon it as for a libel, unless the plaintiff both avers and proves that the words were used maliciously and without reasonable or probable cause on the part of the officer to believe them true. The tendency of the later cases is not to extend the class of absolutely privileged communications, but to place the burden upon the plaintiff in the case of an official report by an officer to show both malice and want of probable cause. In Cooley on Torts the rule is thus stated: “The proceedings of common councils, county boards, and other like 'bodies are only conditionally privileged. ’ ’ Cooley on Torts, p. 431. ‘ ‘ The
In the case at bar the plaintiff averred that the words complained of were published without any lawful justification or excuse. What is a lawful justification or excuse is a question of law. ' An allegation that the words were published without a lawful justification or excuse is not an allegation that they were published without any reasonable grounds to believe them true; and, as the petition shows on its face that the letter was a report by an inferior officer to his superior, within the scope of his duty, the plaintiff failed to state a cause of action, in that he did not show that the report was made without reasonable grounds. The petition therefore was insufficient, and the demurrer to it was properly sustained.
Judgment affirmed.