Ruth Imogene Scott v. Steve Clark, Attorney General of the State of Arkansas, and Thomas Gay

712 F.2d 1305, 1983 U.S. App. LEXIS 25163

• Court: Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit
• Decided: August 5, 1983
• Docket: 83-1511
• Status: Published

Opinion

PER CURIAM.

Ruth Imogene Scott appeals from the district court’s 1 judgment after a bench trial in favor of Arkansas Assistant Attorney General Thomas S. Gay. 2 Appellant brought an action pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983 (Supp. Ill 1979) alleging that Gay had libelled her by placing her name on the Attorney General’s “Buyer Beware List” and publishing the list in Consumer Alert, a newsletter put out by the Consumer Protection Division of the Attorney General’s Office and circulated throughout the State. Appellant further claimed that Gay and Arkansas Attorney General Steve Clark had engaged in an “undercover campaign” to drive her literary agency out of business. The district court found that Gay had not libelled appellant because he had not acted negligently in publishing the information about appellant in Consumer Alert. See Dodrill v. Arkansas Democrat Co., 265 Ark. 628, 590 S.W.2d 840, 844 (1979), cert. denied, 444 U.S. 1076,100 S.Ct. 1024, 62 L.Ed.2d 759 (1980). The court dismissed appellant’s other claim for lack of “any evidence whatsoever.”

After a thorough review of the briefs and arguments of the parties and the record in this case, we conclude this appeal is frivolous and entirely without merit. Accordingly, we affirm. See 8th Cir.R. 12(a).

1 . The Honorable William R. Overton, United States District Judge for the Eastern District of Arkansas.

2 . The district court dismissed Arkansas Attorney General Steve Clark as a party defendant at the close of Scott’s case-in-chief. Scott has not challenged this ruling on appeal.