Advanced search
Publication Cover
Law & Literature Volume 1, 1989 - Issue 2
Submit an article Journal homepage
5
Views
0
CrossRef citations to date
0
Altmetric
Original Articles

Twisted Vision: Janet Malcolm's Upside Down View of the Fatal Vision Case

Daniel J. Kornstein
Pages 127-156 | Published online: 11 Nov 2014

  • The Selected Writings of Ralph Waldo Emerson (Modern Library ed. 1968), 150–51.
  • Masson V. New Yorker Magazine, 881 F.2d 1452, 1478 n. 18 (9th Cir. 1989) (Kozinski, J., dissenting).
  • United States v. MacDonald, 688 F.2d 224, 234 (4th Cir. 1982), cert, denied, 459 U.S. 1103 (1983). See also United States v. MacDonald, No. 75-26-CR-3 (E.D.N.C. Mar. 1, 1985); United States v. MacDonald, No. 75-26-CR-3 (E.D.N.C. Oct. 1, 1984), aff'd, 779 F.2d 962 (4th Cir. 1985), cert, denied, 479 U.S. 813 (1986).
  • The staffer was quoted in Claffey, “The Talk of the Town” The Boston Globe, (Mar. 23, 1989) at 86, col. 3.
  • Quoted in Taylor, “Holler Than Thou”, New York Magazine, (Mar. 27, 1989) at 35.
  • N.Y. Times, (Jul. 3, 1984) at C9, col. 1.
  • Wall St. J., (Jun. 18, 1984) at 1, col. 4.
  • See e.g., Scardino, “Ethics, Reporters and the New Yorker,” N.Y. Times, (Mar. 21, 1989) at C20, Col. 2; N.Y. Times, (Mar. 19, 1989) § 4, at 26 (editorial distinguishing daily journalist on deadline from writers with “time to work on what Miss Malcolm calls her ‘Japanese technique,’ time to develop, in short, a con”); “A Reporter Isn't a Friend” Newsweek, (Mar. 27, 1989) at 62 (noting that “many journalists…think McGinniss went too far”).
  • Judge, “Fatal Vision: Truth and Betrayal,” The American Lawyer, (Nov. 1987) at 83. The forewoman of the jury wrote in a letter to the Los Angeles Times, “I myself changed my mind twice on this very crucial issue.” Unpublished letter from Elizabeth Lane dated Aug. 26, 1987 to the editor of the Los Angeles Times.
  • Los Angeles Daily Journal, (Aug. 24, 1987) at 1.
  • Judge, supra note 9, at 83.
  • Unpublished letter from Elizabeth Lane to the editor dated Aug. 26, 1987.
  • San Francisco Chronicle, (Aug. 22, 1987) at 5.
  • The Outlook, (Aug. 22, 1987) at A3.
  • Id.
  • San Francisco Chronicle, (Aug. 22, 1987) at 5.
  • Long Beach Press-Telegram, (Jul. 17, 1987) at D1, col. 3 (emphasis added).
  • Judge, supra note 9, at 80.
  • Morgenstern, “Mistrial misses justice by a mile,” Los Angeles Herald, (Aug. 23, 1987).
  • Quoted in Taylor, supra note 5, at 35.
  • “Dangerous Liaisons: Journalists and their Sources,” 28 Columbia Journalism Rev.
  • 32 (1989). In his newspaper column, Rosenthal described Malcolm's opening paragraph as one “of unconscious self-revelation,” adding, “It is not uncommon for the guilty-minded to look in the mirror, stare in horror, and cry out: See them!” Rosenthal, “On My Mind,” N.Y. Times, (June 9, 1989) at A31, cols. 1–3.
  • Time Magazine, (Aug. 21, 1989) at 49, col. 3.
  • Masson V. New Yorker Magazine, 881 F.2d 1452, 1464 (9th Cir. 1989).
  • Masson V. New Yorker Magazine, 686 F. Supp. 1396 (N.D. Cal. 1987).
  • 881 F.2d 1452, supra note 2.
  • Id., at 1456.
  • Id., at 1486 (dissent).
  • Id., at 1467.
  • Id., at 1469 n. 7.
  • Id., at 1470
  • Id. at 1476. The quotation comes from J. Olen, Ethics in Journalism 82 (1988).
  • 881 F.2d at 1477–78 (dissent).
  • Id., at 1464 (majority).
  • Id., at 1482–83 (dissent).
  • Id., at 1484.
  • Id., at 1485.
  • Id.
  • Id., at 1486.
  • Id., at 1485.
  • Id.
  • Id., at 1486.
  • Id.
  • Id.
  • Taylor, “Janet Malcolm's License to Lie: How Bad Journalism Makes Bad Law,” Manhattan Lawyer, (Aug. 15, 1989 Aug. 21, 1989) at 10, col. 2.
  • Time Magazine, (Aug. 21, 1989) at 49, col., 3. An eminent historian found the Ninth Circuit's position to be “astonishing.” Schlesinger, “The Judges of History Rule,” Wall St. J., Oct. 26, 1989, at A16, col. 3.
  • See Taylor, supra note 44.
  • Dangerous Liaisons, supra note 21, at 25.
  • See Stokes, “Press Clips,” Village Voice, (Mar. 28, 1989) at 8, col. 3.
  • McGinniss V. Employers Reinsurance Corp., 648 F. Supp. 1263, 1269–70 (S.D.N.Y. 1986).
  • Ironically, the “essential integrity” of Fatal Vision has been established, while the “essential integrity” of Malcolm's articles on the Fatal Vision case is now under attack.
  • Before Hutchinson v. Proxmire, 443 U.S. 111 (1979), “a consensus appeared to be emerging that summary judgment was ‘favored’ in defamation cases.” R. Smolla, “Law of Defamation” § 12.07 [1] [b], at 12–32 (1988). See, e.g., Guam Federation of Teachers v. Ysrael, 492 F.2d 438, 441 (9th Cir. 1974) (“When civil cases may have a chilling effect on First Amendment rights, special care is appropriate.”), cert, denied, 419 U.S. 872 (1974). Hutchinson cast some doubt on this consensus, see Hutchinson, 443 U.S. at 120 n. 9, and several courts took a more “neutral” position on summary judgment in defamation cases. See R. Smolla supra, § 12.07[2] [a] at 12–33. Yet the weight of authority still favors the use of summary judgment in defamation cases. See e.g., Guccione v. Hustler Magazine, Inc., 800 F.2d 298, 303 (2d Cir. 1986) (“claim should be dismissed so that the costs of defending against the claim…, which can themselves impair vigorous freedom of expression, will be avoided”) cert, denied, 479 U.S. 1091 (1987).
  • Van Alstyne, “First Amendment Limitations on Recovery from the Press,” 25 Wm. & Mary L. Rev. 793, 810 (1984).
  • Teitelbaum Furs, Inc. v. Old Dominion Ins. Co., Ltd., 58 Cal.2d 601, 606–07 (1962). (Holding that any issue necessarily decided in a prior criminal proceeding is conclusively determined if it is involved in a subsequent civil action.)
  • Euripides, Medea, in Four Famous Greek Plays (Modem Library ed., 1929) 198–99.
  • Aeschylus, The Libation Bearers, in Oresteia (R. Lattimore trans. 1953) at 130.
  • Tehan V. United States ex rei. Shott, 382 U.S. 406, 416 (1966).
  • 30 Ree. A. B. City N.Y. 14, 16 (1975).
  • J. Wigmore, Evidence (3d ed. 1940) § 1367, at 32.

Reprints and Corporate Permissions

Please note: Selecting permissions does not provide access to the full text of the article, please see our help page How do I view content?

To request a reprint or corporate permissions for this article, please click on the relevant link below:

Order Reprints Request Corporate Permissions

Academic Permissions

Please note: Selecting permissions does not provide access to the full text of the article, please see our help page How do I view content?

Obtain permissions instantly via Rightslink by clicking on the button below:

Request Academic Permissions

If you are unable to obtain permissions via Rightslink, please complete and submit this Permissions form. For more information, please visit our Permissions help page.

Related research

People also read lists articles that other readers of this article have read.

Recommended articles lists articles that we recommend and is powered by our AI driven recommendation engine.

Cited by lists all citing articles based on Crossref citations.
Articles with the Crossref icon will open in a new tab.