Joseph A. Maressa, Plaintiff-Respondent v. New Jersey Monthly and Hendrix F. C. Niemann and Christopher Leach and…

Summary

The Supreme Court of New Jersey held that the New Jersey Shield Law provides an absolute privilege for newspersons in libel actions, shielding both confidential sources and editorial processes from compulsory disclosure, and that no constitutional right of the plaintiff overrides this privilege. Accordingly, the trial court’s order compelling discovery was reversed and the case remanded. Justice Schreiber dissented, arguing that the Shield Law should not extinguish a plaintiff’s constitutional right to pursue a defamation claim.