This section contains the nature of the case and procedural background.

P is an attorney who, during the mid-1970's gained notoriety through his representation of the Pagans, a motorcycle gang, and a rival gang, the Warlocks. P was also linked to these motorcycle gangs on a non-professional basis. Law enforcement agents stated that P frequented 'the Castle,' a 40-room mansion in Delaware County, which served as the Pagans' headquarters. The Castle was connected with the disappearance and death of five young women in 1976. An article in the Philadelphia Inquirer dated March 18, 1976, reported that P once stated that he 'occasionally went on weekend trips' with one of the motorcycle gangs. In February of 1976, a grand jury handed down an indictment charging P and 24 other co-defendants with conspiring 'to knowingly, intentionally and unlawfully possess with intent to distribute, and to distribute marijuana' in violation of 21 U.S.C. §§ 841(a)(1), 846 (1982). It charged that 'during May, 1974, P gave $25,000 in United States currency to FREDERICK R. FREY in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania for the purpose of purchasing multi-hundred-pound quantities of marijuana in California.' Law enforcement agents stated that P and the three other co-defendants from the Philadelphia area had frequent meetings at the Castle. On May 19, 1976, the government withdrew the charges against P without prejudice to his being reindicted in Philadelphia. An assistant United States Attorney in Detroit explained that the charges were dropped because of 'legal technicalities' in tying P to the larger conspiracy, which involved defendants from San Diego to Montreal. P was not subsequently reindicted in Philadelphia. P published an article in its November 1978 issue about the illegal marijuana trade as a multibillion-dollar industry. The article detailed 'criminal attorneys and attorney criminals' involved in drug transactions. “The typical new dope businessman is an attorney. 'We have criminal attorneys and attorney criminals,' says Fred Rody, Miami DEA regional director. 'There is such a thing as a criminal consort. We know that some of the large smuggling operations have lawyers who are providing them with all the advice they need to operate.' Even after DEA agents spent more than two years building an airtight case, federal judges did not sentence any of the attorney criminals to prison.’ “Frank Marcone, an attorney from the Philadelphia area, contributed down payments of up to $25,000 on grass transactions. Charges against him were dismissed because he cooperated with further investigations.” P sued D for libel. D moved for summary judgment claiming that P was a public figure and was unable to make the showing of actual malice required by New York Times and its progeny. The motion was denied. Shortly before trial, the judge ruled that the article was libelous per se; that P was not a public figure; and that Pennsylvania would adopt a negligence standard for private figures regardless of whether the article involved matters of public concern. The jury returned a verdict for P of $30,000 actual damages and $537,000 punitive damages. The judge ordered a remittitur reducing the punitive damages to $200,000 because he found the jury's award to be 'so grossly excessive as to shock the conscience of the Court.' D appealed.

The legal issues presented in this case will be displayed here.

The court's holding and decision will be displayed here.

Legal analysis from Dean's Law Dictionary will be displayed here.