(Download) "Runels v. Lowell Sun Co. Reynolds v. Same" by Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts ~ Book PDF Kindle ePub Free
eBook details
- Title: Runels v. Lowell Sun Co. Reynolds v. Same
- Author : Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts
- Release Date : January 30, 1945
- Genre: Law,Books,Professional & Technical,
- Pages : * pages
- Size : 73 KB
Description
SPALDING, Justice. The plaintiffs Runels and Reynolds, superintendent and assistant superintendent respectively of the water department of the city of Lowell, brought these actions of tort for libel against the defendant, the publisher of a newspaper in that city. Verdicts were returned for both plaintiffs, and the cases come here on exceptions taken by the defendant to numerous rulings during the trial and to the denial of motions for a new trial. The article alleged to be libelous was published in an issue of the defendant's newspaper (The Lowell Sun) on July 8, 1941, and in substance stated that former Mayor Bruin had made the following charges: That water department officials were deliberately spoiling the city's water supply as part of a gigantic conspiracy to give the city a 'trimming'; that employees of the department were muzzled and could not afford to tell the truth about the present condition of the water supply; that there was a deliberate attempt to spoil the city's water supply and create an artificial demand so that the proposal of the water department for the spending of $500,000 could go through; that department officials had asked for authority from the Legislature to purchase land for a well field in North Chelmsford; that this was nothing but a 'land deal' and 'that the land which the water department is prepared to spend $15,000 for was listed in several real estate offices with a purchase price of $2,500' and was assessed for approximately $5,300; and that water department employees who could not afford to talk were openly stating that river water was being placed directly in the reservoirs and mains in order to discolor the water and create a demand for this expensive program.