J 350F Lecture Notes - Lecture 12: Implied Consent, Time Inc., Irish Setter
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Texas privileges fair comment (2) reasonable and fair comment on or criticism of an o cial act of a public o cial or other mart of public concern published for general information. That portion of statements of opinion that contain provably false defamatory facts are actionable. High school wrestling coach had testiied at a hearing over a bench-clearing brawl at a wrestling match. Sports columnist who had witnessed the brawl and attended the hearing the next day claimed the coach lied at the hearing to avoid his team being put on probation. Newspaper defended claiming that the assertion was part of sports commentary opinion and therefore not actionable. Can"t escape libel by couching facts with in my opinion . Expressions of opinion may often imply an assertion of objective fact. If a speaker says, in my opinion john jones is a liar, he implies a knowledge of facts which lead to the conclusion that jones told an untruth.
