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I was struck by both headline and article appearing in the Sept. 12 edition of the Bangor Daily News reporting that the Maine Supreme Judicial Court sitting as the Law Court “denied” an appeal. No articulate court “denies” an appeal, particularly when the appellant acts as a matter of right.
As the decision reflects the court considered the appeal on July 18 and issued its opinion on Aug. 3. The appellants had appealed (as they had the right to do) from a decision of the Superior Court affirming the taking of property by the town of St. Albans. They asserted error on the part of the trial court.
The Law Court concluded that there was no error on the part of the Superior Court and therefore affirmed the decision of the Superior Court.
How your reporter could have concluded that the appeal was “denied” is beyond me.
It would appear that Jayson Blair is alive and well and working for your newspaper.
Paul L. Rudman
Veazie
The BDN regrets any inaccuracy in referring to the action of affirming a lower court’s decision as the “denial of an appeal.” However, it is commonly understood that the Maine Supreme Court can “vacate” the lower court, and thereby grant the appeal (rule in favor of the appealing party), or “affirm” the lower court decision, and thereby deny an appeal. In fact, at the end of its decisions that uphold a lower court decision, the court sometimes characterizes its action as, “appeal denied.”
In reporting on this and similar cases, newspapers conduct a balancing act between being technically accurate and using language that can be easily understood by their nonattorney readers.
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