![]() ![]() The right to report the activities of "a municipal corporation or of a body empowered by law to perform a public duty is privileged, although it contains matter which is false and defamatory, if it is (a) accurate and complete or a fair abridgment of such proceedings, and (b) not made solely for the purpose of causing harm to the person defamed." The privilege plainly includes the right to report the activities of such agencies as the Peoria Health Department. Section 611 of the Restatement of Torts definitely expresses the prevailing, if not unanimous, weight of judicial authority. The plaintiff concedes here that a privilege to report government proceedings exists, but contends that it does not encompass the acts, declarations or records of agencies at the lower levels of government, such as the Peoria Health Department. 595.) The trial court accordingly erred in holding that the defendant's publication was libelous per se the court should have recognized and applied the defense of privilege as a matter of law. The right to speak and print about such actions of government is well established denial of this right would be a serious infringement of both State and Federal constitutional guarantees of free speech and press. The only sustainable conclusion from the record is that the defendant's publication is an accurate and capsulized summation of the plaintiff's six weeks of difficulty with the Peoria Health Department. The trial court rejected the defense and ruled that the publication was libelous per se the court instructed the jury that the defendant must justify by proving the truth of the article "as full and as broad as the words published." The defendant raised, by motion for summary judgment, motions for directed verdict at the close of plaintiff's evidence and at the close of all the evidence, and in the post-trial motion, the defense that the publication was privileged and nonactionable as an accurate report of the proceedings of government. The plaintiff claimed that the above publication was a "libel per se" and that he was entitled to both compensatory and punitive damages. ![]() "Robert Lulay is operator of the combination bakery, grocery, meat market and restaurant." Pickles, director of sanitation, in visits to the store Dec. *114 "The violations, including mice, flies and dirt, were noted by Louis W. Adams St., has cleaned up 18 violations of the city's sanitary code and has been given a food license for 1959, it is reported by the City Health Department. The following day the defendant newspaper, after an interview with the Director of the Health Department, published the following article: "HAUSAM'S CLEANS UP 18 VIOLATIONS. He satisfied the Health Department's objections by early February and received his food license on February 4, 1959. Among the enumerated charges were findings of mice, flies, and general uncleanliness the Health Department did not issue a city food license to the plaintiff for the coming year.Įarly in 1959 the plaintiff appeared at an informal hearing before the Health Department the plaintiff represented to the Department that he would correct the deficiencies as soon as possible. Plaintiff's market was inspected by city health officers in December 1958 the officers cited plaintiff's establishment for some 48 sanitary code violations. Peoria food establishments are periodically inspected to determine and ensure compliance with the city's sanitary code. The plaintiff is the proprietor of a combined bakery, grocery store, meat market and restaurant in Peoria, the establishment known as "Hausam's Market", and also offers prepared food to the public through a catering service. The questions were raised below and passed upon by the trial court, which gives this court jurisdiction. The defendant contends that the trial court's rejection of the defense of privilege to report governmental affairs and denial of the right to publish substantial truth violated section 4 of article II of the Illinois constitution and the first and fourteenth amendments to the United States constitution. The defendant appealed directly to this court claiming State and Federal constitutional questions. Judgment was entered against defendant upon the verdict. The plaintiff Robert Lulay obtained a jury verdict for $150,000 ($60,000 in *113 compensatory damages plus $90,000 in punitive damages) against the Peoria Journal-Star, Inc. This is an appeal from a judgment of the circuit court of Peoria County in an action for libel. CHIEF JUSTICE KLINGBIEL delivered the opinion of the court: KIRKLAND, ELLIS, HODSON, CHAFFETZ & MASTERS, of Chicago, and McCONNELL, KENNEDY, McCONNELL & MORRIS, of Peoria, (DON H. ![]()
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