BARR v. MATTEO et al.
No. 409.
Decided December 9, 1957.
Solicitor General Rankin, Assistant Attorney General Doub, Paul A. Sweeney and Bernard Cedarbaum for petitioner.
Per Curiam.
The petition for certiorari is granted. The petition presents this question: “Whether the absolute immunity from defamation suits accorded officials of the Government with respect to acts done within the scope of their official authority, extends to statements to the press by high policy-making officers, below cabinet or comparable rank, concerning matters committed by law to their control or supervision.”
In the District Court and the Court of Appeals the litigation was not so confined. By his motion for a directed verdict and requested instructions petitioner also presented to the District Court the defense of qualified privilege. On appeal to the Court of Appeals petitioner, in his brief, raised only the question of absolute immunity, but on reconsideration he urged the court also to pass on the defense of qualified privilege. This that court refused to do on the ground that petitioner, because of the position he had initially taken on the appeal, had waived the defense. In so holding, the court relied on its Rule 17 (c)(7), requiring an appellant to set forth in his brief a statement of the points on which he intends to rely, and Rule 17 (i), which provides that “Points not presented according to the rules of the court, will be disregarded, though the court, at its option, may notice and pass upon a plain error not pointed out or relied upon.” 244 F. 2d 767.
The scope of the litigation in the Court of Appeals cannot lessen this Court’s duty to confine itself to the proper exercise of its jurisdiction and the appropriate scope of judicial review. Thus, an advisory opinion cannot be extracted from a federal court by agreement of the parties, see Swift & Co. v. Hocking Valley R. Co., 243 U. S. 281, 289, and no matter how much they may favor the settlement of an important question of constitutional law, broad considerations of the appropriate exercise of judicial power prevent such determinations unless actually compelled by the litigation before the Court. United States v. C. I. 0., 335 U. S. 106, 110. Likewise, “Courts should avoid passing on questions of public law even short of constitutionality that are not immediately pressing. Many of the same reasons are present which impel them to abstain from adjudicating constitutional claims against a statute before it effectively and presently impinges on such claims.” Eccles v. Peoples Bank, 333 U. S. 426, 432. Especially in a case involving on the one hand protection of the reputation of individuals, and on the other the interest of the public in the fullest freedom of officials to make disclosures on matters within the scope of their public duties, this Court should avoid rendering a decision beyond the obvious requirements of the record. In the present case a ground far narrower than that on which the Court of Appeals rested its decision, the defense of qualified privilege, was consistently pressed in the District Court and in fact urged in the Court of Appeals itself. In these circumstances we think that the broad requirements of judicial power and its proper exercise should lead to consideration of the defense of qualified privilege.
To that end, the judgment of the Court of Appeals is vacated, and the case remanded to that Court with directions to pass upon petitioner’s claim of a qualified privilege.
Mr. Justice Black, with whom The Chief Justice joins, agrees with the disposition of this case as expressed in the last paragraph.
Mr. Justice Brennan would grant the petition and consider the question presented.
What follows is an opinion from the Supreme Court of the United States. Your task is to determine the issue area of the Court's decision. Determine the issue area on the basis of the Court's own statements as to what the case is about. Focus on the subject matter of the controversy rather than its legal basis. In specifying the issue in a legacy case, choose the one that best accords with what today's Court would consider it to be. Choose among the following issue areas: "Criminal Procedure" encompasses the rights of persons accused of crime, except for the due process rights of prisoners. "Civil rights" includes non-First Amendment freedom cases which pertain to classifications based on race (including American Indians), age, indigency, voting, residency, military or handicapped status, gender, and alienage. "First Amendment encompasses the scope of this constitutional provision, but do note that it need not involve the interpretation and application of a provision of the First Amendment. For example, if the case only construe a precedent, or the reviewability of a claim based on the First Amendment, or the scope of an administrative rule or regulation that impacts the exercise of First Amendment freedoms. "Due process" is limited to non-criminal guarantees. "Privacy" concerns libel, comity, abortion, contraceptives, right to die, and Freedom of Information Act and related federal or state statutes or regulations. "Attorneys" includes attorneys' compensation and licenses, along with trhose of governmental officials and employees. "Unions" encompass those issues involving labor union activity. "Economic activity" is largely commercial and business related; it includes tort actions and employee actions vis-a-vis employers. "Judicial power" concerns the exercise of the judiciary's own power. "Federalism" pertains to conflicts and other relationships between the federal government and the states, except for those between the federal and state courts. "Federal taxation" concerns the Internal Revenue Code and related statutes. "Private law" relates to disputes between private persons involving real and personal property, contracts, evidence, civil procedure, torts, wills and trusts, and commercial transactions. Prior to the passage of the Judges' Bill of 1925 much of the Court's cases concerned such issues. Use "Miscellaneous" for legislative veto and executive authority vis-a-vis congress or the states.
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