6 canonical passages across 4 cases, quoted by 23 opinions in total. These passages cluster together because the same opinions keep quoting them side by side — they state parts of one doctrine. The anchor passage is from Bell v. Mayview State Hospital.
| # | Case | Flag | Canonical passage | Citers |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bell v. Mayview State Hospital Anchor | green | “a communication may be considered defamatory if it tends to harm the reputation of another so as to lower him or her in the estimation of the community or to deter third persons from associating or dealing with him or her.” | 5 |
| 2 | Mathias v. Carpenter | green | “whether a particular statement constitutes a fact or an opinion is a question of law for the trial court to determine.” | 5 |
| 3 | Curran v. Philadelphia Newspapers, Inc. | green | “that the defendant in fact entertained serious doubts as to the truth of his publication.” | 4 |
| 4 | Kurowski v. Burroughs | green | “might be viewed as annoying and embarrassing, they were not tantamount to defamation.” | 3 |
| 5 | Curran v. Philadelphia Newspapers, Inc. | green | “erroneous statement is inevitable in free debate, and...must be protected if the freedoms of expression are to have the 'breathing space' that they need to survive.” | 3 |
| 6 | Curran v. Philadelphia Newspapers, Inc. | green | “hybrid of evidential fact on the one hand and conclusion of law on the other.” | 3 |
A red or yellow flag on a member means the underlying case has negative treatment — for those, check the case page before relying on the passage.