Common_Law

Common Law Com Law In 1976 Carol Burnett called Barry Langberg, her lawyer, in tears. She was extremely upset about an article that had been published in the National Enquirer claiming that she was drunk at a Washington D.C. restaurant. Burnett was radically disturbed by the article because “her parents were alcoholics; she had done a lot of high-profile anti-alcohol campaigns (Beam, p.3).” Renowned Las Vegas showman Wayne Newton decided to sue NBC News after the company linked him to organized crime. The NBC correspondent reported that Newton used money earned from organized crime to buy a hotel in Las Vegas (Brown, p.30). Richard Jewell, former Olympic security guard, sued The Atlanta Journal-Constitution for defaming his character and bringing forth false information after he had been named as a suspect (The Quill, p.7). All three of these cases are similar in one major respect. In order for their cases to be won each of them must prove actual malice. That is, knowledge of falsity or reckless disregard for falsity (Farrington, p. 2). Since the three examples above are all of people who are public figures, they must go above and beyond proving simple negligence. They must prove that they case, court, public, malice, been, tabloid, set, enquirer, burnett, beam, article, supreme, story, ruled, printed, people, libel, gertz, false, cases, took, tabloids, standard, ruling, magazine, figures, eastwood, actual, the, words, times, sullivan, suits, stewart, reporter