Word: plaintiffs
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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...prove "actual malice," which the court defined as reporting that was known to be false or showed a "reckless disregard" for the truth. In the wake of the Sullivan decision, judges initially threw out cases involving public figures before they got to a jury, reasoning that the plaintiff could never prove actual malice. Lately, however, judges have been more willing to let juries decide; out of sympathy for the plaintiffs and sometimes out of hostility to the press, juries have shown a willingness to give plaintiffs huge damage awards. These decisions are often reversed by the trial judge...
This disbelief is even built into our judicial process. Recently, television viewers across the nation were given the opportunity to witness the ludicrous level of skepticism which greets a plaintiff in a rape case. The victim of the New Bedford gang rape had her "character" placed under glass and combed backwards and forwards day after day after day: meanwhile, no one, except a few lone voices, had the acuity to openly question the relevance of the woman's previous behavior to what transpired on the night of the attack. What does it matter what kind of person she was before...
SOME FEMINISTS would describe the trial as a direct reflection of the double standard within our society. Whereas a male plaintiff remains relatively unimpugnable no matter how sordid his personal history, a woman who displays less than pristine behavior in one set of circumstances is assumed to automatically "invite" attack in all others...
...should not let us forget that this disturbing crime needs attention on several levels. First, we must change legislation to make facts about the plaintiff's unrelated sexual pasts inadmissible in a trial. Until this is done, many rape cases will continue to go unprocessed, because too many women fear initiating a trial which they know will be traumatizing...
...major alternative to punitive damages is retraction. In some states, if a publication concedes in print, with sufficient prominence, that a story was in error, then a plaintiff is limited to suing for actual damages; if the publication refuses to retract the story, however, it is vulnerable to suits for punitive damages. Conference participants acknowledged that negotiating a retraction could be almost as complex as a trial. Moreover, retraction rules can resemble unconstitutional coercion, warned New York City Attorney James Goodale, a former vice chairman of the New York Times Co. Said he: "Journalists perceive mandatory-retraction regulations...