The SJC opinion was a landmark analysis of the extent of defamation. Defamation is not just the mean or unfair assertion of an opinion - it requires the publication of a false statement of fact. And since it is very difficult to ever know exactly why someone kills themself, blame for their suicide really just amounts to an opinion, the SJC ruled. A reader was even more likely to have read the Inside Track section of the Herald as opinion because it is an entertainment page, not a straight news page, the court said.