Harte-Hanks Communications, Inc. v. Connaughton

491 U.S. 657, 109 S.Ct. 2678, 105 L.Ed.2d 562 (1989)

Study Aids
Case Briefs Overview
Casebooks
Case Briefs
H
From our private database of 46,300+ case briefs, written and edited by humans—never with AI.

Harte-Hanks Communications, Inc. v. Connaughton

United States Supreme Court
491 U.S. 657, 109 S.Ct. 2678, 105 L.Ed.2d 562 (1989)

SC
Play video

Facts

Daniel Connaughton (plaintiff) ran for Municipal Judge and lost out to incumbent James Dolan. Two months before the election, Connaughton recorded an interview with Patsy Stephens, who claimed that Dolan's Director of Court Services was taking bribes. Stephens and her sister, Alice Thompson, testified during the ensuing grand jury investigation. During that investigation, the Journal News, published by Harte-Hanks Communications (defendant), ran a story quoting Thompson as alleging that Connaughton offered to bribe her and Stephens to cooperate with the grand jury. The story reported that Connaughton denied any wrongdoing. Before running the story, the Journal News recorded interviews with both Thompson and Connaughton. Thompson was sometimes inaudible, hesitant, or unresponsive in her interview. Connaughton gave the Journal News the recording of his interview with Stephens, but the Journal News never listened to it. The Journal News never tried to interview Stephens. Connaughton sued the Jourrnal News for defamation. The district court ruled in favor of Connaughton. The appeals court affirmed. The Journal News petition the United States Supreme Court for certiorari.

Rule of Law

Issue

Holding and Reasoning (Stevens, J.)

What to do next…

  1. Unlock this case brief with a free (no-commitment) trial membership of Quimbee.

    You’ll be in good company: Quimbee is one of the most widely used and trusted sites for law students, serving more than 802,000 law students since 2011. Some law schools—such as Yale, Berkeley, and Northwestern—even subscribe directly to Quimbee for all their law students.

    Unlock this case briefRead our student testimonials

  2. Learn more about Quimbee’s unique (and proven) approach to achieving great grades at law school.

    Quimbee is a company hell-bent on one thing: helping you get an “A” in every course you take in law school, so you can graduate at the top of your class and get a high-paying law job. We’re not just a study aid for law students; we’re the study aid for law students.

    Learn about our approachRead more about Quimbee

Here's why 802,000 law students have relied on our case briefs:

  • Written by law professors and practitioners, not other law students. 46,300 briefs, keyed to 988 casebooks. Top-notch customer support.
  • The right amount of information, includes the facts, issues, rule of law, holding and reasoning, and any concurrences and dissents.
  • Access in your classes, works on your mobile and tablet. Massive library of related video lessons and high quality multiple-choice questions.
  • Easy to use, uniform format for every case brief. Written in plain English, not in legalese. Our briefs summarize and simplify; they don’t just repeat the court’s language.

Access this case brief for FREE

With a 7-day free trial membership
Here's why 802,000 law students have relied on our case briefs:
  • Reliable - written by law professors and practitioners, not other law students
  • The right length and amount of information - includes the facts, issue, rule of law, holding and reasoning, and any concurrences and dissents
  • Access in your class - works on your mobile and tablet
  • 46,300 briefs - keyed to 988 casebooks
  • Uniform format for every case brief
  • Written in plain English - not in legalese and not just repeating the court's language
  • Massive library of related video lessons - and practice questions
  • Top-notch customer support

Access this case brief for FREE

With a 7-day free trial membership

Casebooks

Media Law
Torts

Key Terms