Court upholds dismissal of judge's libel suit over TV report

Court upholds dismissal of judge's libel suit over TV report

By The Associated Press
10.14.05
PITTSBURGH — An appeals court has upheld a visiting judge's decision to throw out a libel lawsuit against a Pittsburgh television station that had reported an Allegheny County judge used a racial slur during an argument with an airport baggage screener.

WPXI reported in February 1996 that Allegheny County Judge Jeffrey Manning used a racial slur after an airport baggage screener ripped a garment bag in passing it through an X-ray machine.

Manning always denied using the slur during the Dec. 20, 1995, confrontation with the black employee at Pittsburgh International Airport. He sued in 1997 and Northumberland County Judge Barry Feudale, brought in to hear the case, dismissed the suit in November 2002.

The Superior Court panel ruled 2-1 on Oct. 11 that because Manning is a public figure, he must prove that the station acted with "actual malice" in airing the reports.
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http://www.firstamendmentcenter.org/news.aspx?id=15927