Mendoza v. Gallup Independent Co.

How courts have described this case

Verbatim parenthetical descriptions written by other courts when citing this decision. Ranked by citation-network relevance.

• “An action for defamation lies only for false statements of fact and not for statements of opinion.”
• action for defamation cannot be sustained where “the recipients of his words did not understand those words to have a defamatory meaning”
• “In resolving the distinction between fact and opinion, the trial court should consider ... the entirety of the publication.... In considering the ‘entirety’ requirement, the published statement must be read in context.”
• “[I]f the material, as a whole, Mly discloses the facts upon which the opinion is based and permits the reader to reach [the reader’s] own opinion, the statement is generally an opinion rather than an assertion of fact, and is absolutely protected.”
• “[I]f the material, as a whole, fully discloses the facts upon which the opinion is based and permits the reader to reach [the reader’s] own opinion, the statement is generally an opinion rath er than an assertion of fact, and is absolutely protected.”

Source: CourtListener parenthetical corpus (CC0).