Dorothy Sucher (May 18, 1933 – August 22, 2010) was an American author and psychotherapist who worked as a reporter at the Greenbelt News Review, where an article that she wrote that quoted critics of a developers calling his plans "blackmail" initially resulted in a $17,500 judgement against the paper.
v. Bresler that the use of "rhetorical hyperbole" in such cases is covered by the First Amendment, a major victory that supported Freedom of the press in the United States.
In that capacity she covered a 1965 city council hearing where developer Charles S. Bresler offered to sell a property the city wanted to acquire as long as he received the variances he was seeking on a development project, a deal that was described by members of the public attending the meeting as "blackmail", and Sucher reported these comments in her article on the meeting.
[1] Sucher was active with the Sisters in Crime, an organization that aims to foster the development and recognition of female mystery writers.
[6] A resident of Silver Spring, Maryland, Sucher died at age 77 on August 22, 2010, at her home there due to thyroid cancer.