Desoto Times Today v. Memphis Publ'g Co.
| Docket Number: | 2007-CA-01381-SCT Linked Case(s): 2007-CA-01381-SCT |
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| Supreme Court: | Opinion Link Opinion Date: 09-18-2008 Opinion Author: WALLER, P.J. Holding: Affirmed |
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| Additional Case Information: |
Topic: Publishing legal notices - Standing - Section 11-51-3 - Separate newspaper - Qualification under section 13-3-31 Judge(s) Concurring: SMITH, C.J., CARLSON, DICKINSON, RANDOLPH AND LAMAR, JJ. Dissenting Author : EASLEY, J., without separate written opinion. Concurs in Result Only: DIAZ, P.J., AND GRAVES, J. Procedural History: Bench Trial Nature of the Case: CIVIL - OTHER |
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| Trial Court: |
Date of Trial Judgment: 07-13-2007 Appealed from: DeSoto County Circuit Court Judge: Andrew C. Baker Disposition: The DeSoto Times Today appeals the DeSoto County Circuit Court’s ruling that The DeSoto Appeal is a newspaper qualified to publish legal notices within the meaning of Section 13-3-31 of the Mississippi Code Annotated (Rev. 2002). Case Number: CV2002-0263BD |
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| Party Name: | Attorney Name: | Brief(s) Available: | ||
| Appellant: | DESOTO TIMES TODAY |
MARY LYNN DAMARE’ |
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| Appellee: | MEMPHIS PUBLISHING COMPANY | LUCIAN T. PERA, JOHN S. HOOKS | ||
| Appellee #2: | ||||
Synopsis provided by:  If you are interested in subscribing to the weekly synopses of all Mississippi Supreme Court and Court of Appeals hand downs please contact Tammy Upton in the MLI Press office. |
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| Topic: | Publishing legal notices - Standing - Section 11-51-3 - Separate newspaper - Qualification under section 13-3-31 |
| Summary of the Facts: | The DeSoto County Board of Supervisors sought a declaratory judgment as to whether The DeSoto Appeal is a newspaper qualified to publish legal notices for DeSoto County within the meaning of section 13-3-31. The complaint named as co-defendants Memphis Publishing Company, publisher of The DeSoto Appeal; PH Publishing LLC, publisher of The DeSoto Times Today; and David Grisham, publisher of The DeSoto County Tribune. The trial court found that The Appeal is qualified under section 13-3-31 to publish legal notices within DeSoto County. The Times appeals. |
| Summary of Opinion Analysis: | Issue 1: Standing The Appeal argues that The Times, as an unnecessary codefendant, does not have standing to appeal a declaratory judgment which affects only the legal rights of The Appeal. Mississippi parties have standing to sue or intervene when they assert a colorable interest in the subject matter of the litigation or experience an adverse effect from the conduct of the defendant, or as otherwise authorized by law. In this case, DeSoto County filed suit and named The Times and The Appeal as co-defendants. Not only was the governing body contracting for publication a party to the action, but section 11-51-3 allows any of the parties to appeal. Issue 2: Separate newspaper The Times argues that the court erred by applying section 13-3-31 before first determining whether The Appeal is simply a section or insert of The Commercial Appeal. In order to satisfy the requirements of section 13-3-31, a newspaper must either independently satisfy the statute, or be a section of a larger newspaper which meets those requirements. Because the court found that The Appeal independently meets the requirements of section 13-3-31, the issue of whether The Appeal is a separate newspaper is moot. Issue 3: Qualification under section 13-3-31 Section 13-3-31 outlines the requirements that must be met for a newspaper to be qualified to publish legal notices. The Times argues that The Appeal does not satisfy section 13-3-31(e), which requires that the newspaper be issued from a known office of publication which shall be the principal public business office of the newspaper. Although The Times presented evidence that some functions of publishing The Appeal were carried out in Memphis, the trial court was not manifestly wrong in finding that The Appeal maintains an office distinct from The Commercial Appeal. The Appeal presented sufficient evidence to sustain the trial court’s ruling that its principal public business office is in DeSoto County. The Appeal submitted that its principal public business office is located in Southaven, and that it plans to expand this office from 3,000 to 10,000 square feet. The Appeal has more than twenty employees at the Southaven office, and subscribers can make payment at the Southaven office if they chose to do so. |
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