1. Does either the First Amendment or this Court's
holding in Gertz v. Robert Welch, Inc., 418 U.S.
323, 341 (1974) impose any limitations upon
common law defamation claims in the context of a
private, non-public figure involved in a matter of
"private concern"?

2. While the court below reaffirmed the validity of
the common law Doctrine of Republication—
which permits defamation claims against
"republishers" of factually-false representations—
in Yohe v. Nugent, 321 F.3d 35, 48 (1st Cir. 2003),
the First Circuit rejected this Doctrine, declining
to impose liability where the republisher had
"accurately" reiterated the factually-false
representations made by a third party; which of
these contradictory and _ antithetical
precedents is correct?

3. Is Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 41 § 98F, as applied, .
violative of the Due Process Clause of the United
States Constitution, viz. Amend. XIV, § 1, or
alternatively, does it constitute a legislative bill of
attainder, in violation of Art. I, § 10, Cl. 1?

Does the First Amendment or Gertz v. Robert Welch, Inc. impose limitations on defamation claims by private, non-public figures involved in private matters?