FAQ

When federal prosecutor Elliot Rosen (Bob Balaban) leaks a false story to Miami Standard newspaper reporter Megan Carter (Sally Field) naming Michael Gallagher (Paul Newman), son of a deceased gangster but himself a legitimate Miami liquor wholesaler, as someone under investigation in the disappearance and presumed murder of longshoremen union leader Joey Diaz, Gallagher's name is soon all over the news. Innocent of the charge, Gallagher is now faced with clearing his name while protecting the secret of his friend Teresa Peron (Melinda Dillon), the only one who can provide him with an airtight alibi.

No. Absence of Malice was written for the screen by screenwriters Kurt Luedtke and David Rayfiel, who say that the story is based on a real-life son of a convicted gangster from Detroit.

Absence of Malice is an ethical and moral term used to describe the decision a journalist must make about whether or not to write and print a newspaper story that may or may not ultimately prove to be true and that may or may not damage an individual's reputation. The term is paraphrased from the Supreme Court's 1964 landmark case on defamation law, New York Times Co. v. Sullivan, that laid out First Amendment protections. In short, a person could not be found guilty of defamation or libel if the plaintiff could not prove actual malice, reckless disregard for the truth, or published (or spoke) a falsehood knowing it was false. As the attorney for the Miami Standard points out to Megan when she is questioning whether or not to print an article revealing Michael's suspected involvement, they have no knowledge that the story is false, therefore there is absence of malice (evil intent) on Carter's part, and they are justified in printing the story as news.

Rosen is also the head of the Justice Department's Organized Crime Strike Force. They have had no breaks for over six months in the disappearance of Diaz, and he believes that the Mafia are involved. He has no reason to suspect Michael Gallagher of any direct involvement but does believe that, by putting the squeeze on him, he may be able to force Gallagher into finding out what really happened to Diaz.

While visiting the Strike Force office to see whether there has been any breaks in the story about Joey Diaz, Megan discovers that all of the officials are involved in a meeting to discuss Mafia involvement. Later, as she shares a drink with Bob Waddell (Barry Primus), one of the Strike Force officials, Michael Gallagher's name comes up. Searching previous newspaper articles on the Gallaghers, she reads about him having been jailed for assaulting a federal officer at his father's funeral, so she arranges an interview with Elliott Rosen in order to determine how Gallagher is connected to Diaz's presumed murder. Rosen refuses to comment, but he conveniently leaves Gallagher's file sitting on his desk when he has his secretary call him out of the room. In his absence, Megan peeks through the file.

When Megan finally reveals to Gallagher that the source of her information was the file that Rosen conveniently left on his desk for her to see, Gallagher begins to concoct an elaborate plan to catch Rosen at his own game. First, he makes a deal with District Attorney James Quinn (Don Hood), claiming that he will turn over any information he can get about Diaz's disappearance if Quinn will call off the investigation and publicly pronounce him cleared of all suspicion, which Quinn agrees to do. Then he lays a trail of cleverly-devised clues suggesting a link between himself and Quinn, e.g., phone messages arranging meetings and two anonymous donations to the Committee for a Better Miami, one of Quinn's political backers. When Rosen begins to suspect that Gallagher paid off Quinn to clear his name, he orders Waddell to put illegal taps on his phones and arrange for surveillance everywhere Gallagher goes. Waddell, being a good friend of Megan, alerts her to Gallagher's "deal" with Quinn and warns her to cut off her relationship with Gallagher before she gets hurt. Although the information was revealed to Megan in confidence, she decides to print it in the newspaper, the headline reading Strike Force Probes Quinn-Gallagher Link. This is brought to the attention of James Wells (Wilford Brimley), Assistant U.S. Attorney General for the Organized Crime Department of the U.S. Department of Justice, who summons everyone involved—Gallagher, Quinn, Rosen, Waddell, and Megan—to an informal inquiry pending a formal hearing in front of the Grand Jury. Megan is asked to provide her source of the Quinn-Gallagher link, but she refuses. Gallagher and Quinn are cleared of any wrong-doings or illegal bribes, and Rosen is charged with running a bogus investigation and given 30 days notice. In the final scenes, Megan visits Gallagher on his boat. She informs him that she may be leaving the Miami Standard. Gallagher says that he's sold his house and will probably head up the coast to visit his daughter. They wish each other well, Megan walks away, and Gallagher heads out to sea.