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United States defamation law. The origins of the United States ' defamation laws pre-date the American Revolution; one influential case in 1734 involved John Peter Zenger and established precedent that "The Truth" is an absolute defense against charges of libel. Though the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution was designed to protect freedom ...
A comprehensive discussion of what is and is not libel or slander under American law is difficult, as the definition differs between different states and is further affected by federal law. [77] Some states codify what constitutes slander and libel together, merging the concepts into a single defamation law. [51]
English defamation law puts the burden of proof on the defendant, and does not require the plaintiff to prove falsehood. For that reason, it has been considered an impediment to free speech in much of the developed world. In many cases of libel tourism, plaintiffs sued in England to censor critical works when their home countries would reject ...
Libel and slander laws fall under this category. Third, negligently false statements of fact may lead to civil liability in some instances. [21] Lastly, some implicit statements of fact—those that have a "false factual connotation"—can also fall under this exception. [22] [23] There is also a fifth category of analysis.
[16] [17] Within these limited areas, other limitations on free speech balance rights to free speech and other rights, such as rights for authors over their works , protection from imminent or potential violence against particular persons, restrictions on the use of untruths to harm others (slander and libel), and communications while a person ...
Under modern jurisprudence the category of dignitary torts is more closely associated with secondary dignitary torts, most notably defamation (slander and libel), false light, intentional infliction of emotional distress, invasion of privacy, and alienation of affections. In some jurisdictions, the phrase is limited to those torts which do not ...
I, XIV. New York Times Co. v. Sullivan, 376 U.S. 254 (1964), was a landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision ruling that the freedom of speech protections in the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution restrict the ability of public officials to sue for defamation. [1][2] The decision held that if a plaintiff in a defamation lawsuit is a public ...
United States. In the United States, the traditional privilege (inherited from British common law) of "fair comment" is seen as a protection for robust, even outrageous published or spoken opinions about public officials and public figures. Fair comment is defined as a "common law defense [that] guarantees the freedom of the press to express ...