Norton v. Glenn

Tom Kennedy, a reporter for the Chester County Daily Local (Daily Local), wrote an article about the acrimonious interactions between members of the Parkersburg Borough Council. Councilmember William Glenn (defendant) accused Council President James Norton III (plaintiff) and borough mayor Alan Wolfe of homosexuality and being child molesters in a publicly issued written statement. Glenn also claimed he saw Norton and Wolfe engaged in a homosexual act in Norton’s home. Glenn accused Norton of making advances that culminated in Norton touching Glenn inappropriately and without his consent. Glenn claimed he was bound by duty to share this information with the public because Wolfe and Norton had access to children. The article detailed these accusations and included Norton’s response that the claims were bizarre and sad. Wolfe and Norton filed separate state court defamation cases against Glenn and several media companies (the media defendants) (defendants). The media defendants filed a motion for summary judgment. The trial court granted the motion, finding that the media defendants were protected under a neutral-reportage privilege. Norton appealed to the Pennsylvania Superior Court, who reversed because it found no constitutional or statutory support for the neutral-reportage privilege. The media defendants appealed to the Pennsylvania Supreme Court on the issue of whether federal or state law mandated the adoption of a neutral-reportage privilege.