Cite as: 523 U. S. 1 (1998)
Stevens, J., dissenting
that an interest in one's reputation is sufficient to confer standing,6 it necessarily follows that such an interest is sufficient to defeat a claim of mootness.7
Accordingly, I respectfully dissent.8
types of actual harm inflicted by defamatory falsehood include impairment of reputation and standing in the community, personal humiliation, and mental anguish and suffering"); L. Eldredge, Law of Defamation § 53, pp. 293-294 (1978) ("There is no doubt about the historical fact that the interest in one's good name was considered an important interest requiring legal protection more than a thousand years ago; and that so far as Anglo-Saxon history is concerned this interest became a legally protected interest comparatively soon after the interest in bodily integrity was given legal protection").
6 Meese v. Keene, 481 U. S. 465, 472-477 (1987).
7 There are compelling reasons for a court to consider petitioner's challenge to the parole board's findings sooner rather than later. As we stated in a related context: "The question of the validity of a criminal conviction can arise in many contexts, and the sooner the issue is fully litigated the better for all concerned. It is always preferable to litigate a matter when it is directly and principally in dispute, rather than in a proceeding where it is collateral to the central controversy. Moreover, litigation is better conducted when the dispute is fresh and additional facts may, if necessary, be taken without a substantial risk that witnesses will die or memories fade. And it is far better to eliminate the source of a potential legal disability than to require the citizen to suffer the possibly unjustified consequences of the disability itself for an indefinite period of time before he can secure adjudication of the State's right to impose it on the basis of some past action." Sibron v. New York, 392 U. S. 40, 56-57 (1968) (citation omitted).
I also believe that, on the facts of this case, there are sufficient tangible consequences to the parole board's findings so as to defeat a claim of mootness.
8 Given the Court's holding that petitioner does not have a remedy under the habeas statute, it is perfectly clear, as Justice Souter explains, that he may bring an action under 42 U. S. C. § 1983.
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