Robert F. Urbano v. Frederic Sondern, Jr.
Cases that cite this one
23 later published cases cite this decision.
- Fred M. Anderson and Wayne Nelson, Fred M. Anderson v. Thomas Coughlin, Commissioner, New York State Department of Corrections (2d Cir. 1983)
- Frank A. Vicaretti, Jr. v. Robert J. Henderson, Superintendent, Auburn Correctional Facility, and Lawrence T. Kurlander, Intervenor-Appellee (2d Cir. 1981)
- Clark v. Zimmerman (District Court, M.D. Pennsylvania 1975)
- Jones v. Ault (United States District Court for the Southern District of Georgia 1974)
- Jones v. Bales (United States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia 1972)
- Davis v. the Tennessean (Tenn. Ct. App. 2001)
- Kevin Michael Cay v. W.J. Estelle, Jr., Director, Texas Department of Corrections (5th Cir. 1986)
- Wynberg v. National Enquirer, Inc. (United States District Court for the Central District of California 1982)
- Simmons Ford, Inc. v. Consumers Union of the United States, Inc. (District Court, S.D. New York 1981)
- Fries v. Barnes (2d Cir. 1980)
- Fries v. Barnes (2d Cir. 1980)
- Boston v. Stanton (District Court, W.D. Missouri 1978)
- Ray v. Time, Inc. (District Court, W.D. Tennessee 1976)
- Searight v. State of NJ (District Court, D. New Jersey 1976)
- Hill v. Estelle (District Court, S.D. Texas 1976)
- Ruth v. Congress of United States (District Court, D. New Jersey 1976)
- Daves v. Scranton (District Court, E.D. Pennsylvania 1975)
- Ex parte Tyler (District Court, E.D. Missouri 1975)
- Boruski v. Stewart (District Court, S.D. New York 1974)
- Cardillo v. Doubleday and Company, Inc. (District Court, S.D. New York 1973)
- Samurine v. United States (United States District Court for the District of Connecticut 1967)
- Robert F. Urbano v. Fawcett Publications, Inc. (2d Cir. 1966)
- Urbano v. Fawcett Publications, Inc. (2d Cir. 1966)
This list shows which later cases cite this one. It does not say how they treated it, and no review of that has been done. Not a substitute for Shepard’s or KeyCite — verify before relying.
Opinion
This is an appeal from an order of Judge Zampano of the District of Connecticut, dismissing appellant’s action as *14 frivolous, pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1915 (d).
Appellant, Robert Urbano, was sentenced to life imprisonment in May 1960, following a plea of non vult to an indictment for murder committed during a robbery of Bamberger’s Department Store i’ñ Paramus, New Jersey. Urbano is presently serving his sentence in the New Jersey State Prison at Trenton.
It appears that in September 1961, the Federal Bureau of Investigation issued a press release describing appellant’s criminal career. Many newspapers and magazines proceeded tp run stories about Urbano, based in whole or in part on the FBI report, and appellant responded with several law suits (of which Urbano v. Fawcett Publications, Inc., 370 F.2d 14 (2d Cir. 1966), decided today, was one) against the authors, the publishers, and the FBI.
The present action is against the author of an article entitled, “The New-Style Bank Robber,” which appeared in the December 1963 issue of Reader’s Digest. Urbano alleges that the article is libelous. Appellant sought leave to proceed in forma pauperis, pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a). On that application, the district court, while believing that Urbano’s complaint lacked merit, permitted him to develop and expand his contentions. Voluminous briefs and appendices were submitted, and after studying them in detail, Judge Zampano concluded that the action was frivolous. He therefore dismissed the action pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1915(d) which provides that “[t] he court may * * * dismiss the case * * * if satisfied that the action is frivolous * *
After careful study of the entire record, we conclude that this action was properly dismissed as frivolous, both for the reasons set forth in Judge Zampano’s well-reasoned decision, 41 F.R.D. 355, and because it seems highly unlikely that appellant, who has adduced no specific facts tending to show that he did not commit the crimes mentioned in defendant’s article, could surmount either the defense of truth, or of qualified privilege to report the activities of public officials. 1
Affirmed.
. The request of appellant for the minutes of the oral argument on the appeal has become moot in light of the submission of this appeal without argument upon the consent of the appellee. The motion is accordingly denied.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.