DEFAMATION -- LIBEL AND SLANDER [Florida Law - FReepers Heed]

Florida Bar Association ^

[Chancellor Palpatine]

DEFAMATION -- LIBEL AND SLANDER

The First Amendment to the Constitution provides a broad right of freedom of speech. However, if a false statement has been made about you, you may have wondered if you could sue for defamation.

Generally, defamation consists of: (1) a false statement of fact about another; (2) an unprivileged publication of that statement to a third party; (3) some degree of fault, depending on the type of case; and (4) some harm or damage. Libel is defamation by the printed word and slander is defamation by the spoken word.

If the statement is made about a public official - for example, a police officer, mayor, school superintendent - or a public figure - that is a generally prominent person or a person who is actively involved in a public controversy, then it must be proven that the statement was made with knowledge that it was false or with reckless disregard for whether the statement was true or false. In other words, the fact that the statement was false is not enough to recover for defamation. On the other hand, if the statement was made about a private person, then it must be proven that the false statement was made without reasonable care as to whether the statement was true or false.

There are a number of defenses available in a defamation action. Of course, if a statement is true, there can be no action for defamation. Truth is a complete defense. Additionally, if the statement is an expression of an opinion as opposed to a statement of fact, there can be no action for defamation. We do not impose liability in this country for expressions of opinion. However, whether a statement will be deemed to be an expression of opinion as opposed to a statement of fact is not always an easy question to answer. For example, the mere fact that a statement is found in an editorial is not enough to qualify for the opinion privilege if the particular statement contained in the editorial is factual in nature.

There is also a privilege known as neutral reporting. For example, if a newspaper reports on newsworthy statements made about someone, the newspaper is generally protected if it makes a disinterested report of those statements. In some cases, the fact that the statements were made is newsworthy and the newspaper will not be held responsible for the truth of what is actually said.

There are other privileges as well. For example, where a person, such as a former employer, has a duty to make reports to other people and makes a report in good faith without any malicious intent, that report will be protected even though it may not be totally accurate.

Another example of a privilege is a report on a judicial proceeding. News organizations and others reporting on activities that take place in a courtroom are protected from defamation actions if they have accurately reported what took place.

If you think you have been defamed by a newspaper, magazine, radio or television station, you must make a demand for retraction before a lawsuit can be filed. If the newspaper, magazine, radio or television station publishes a retraction, you can still file suit, but your damages may be limited. Unless the media defendant acted with malice, bad faith or reckless disregard for the truth or falsity of the story, you can only recover your actual damages. No punitive damages can be assessed in the absence of these elements.

An action for libel or slander must be brought within two years of the time the statements were made. If you wait beyond this two year period, any lawsuit will be barred.

Libel and slander cases are often very complicated. Before you decide to take any action in a libel or slander case, you should consult with an attorney. An attorney can help you decide whether you have a case and advise you regarding the time and expense involved in bringing this type of action.

(updated 12/01)

[sam I am]

You are right they are the enemy of freedom and free speach. They would destroy America if they could and they are working at doing just that.

[HiTech RedNeck]

Schiavo might possibly be sufficiently vindictive to file a couple of harrassing lawsuits against the most vituperative FReepers if he can find a law firm willing to risk representing him on a contingency basis in such a long shot suit, but I seriously doubt anyone is in peril of losing a home or livilihood over this minor tempest in an internet teapot.

I might be more concerned, if at all, with that "Spiritual Suing" [deleted] of an attorney of his. Or, since he has authored a published book, is he now fair game to be considered a public figure?

[zeugma]

Ignorance of the law is no excuse.

That will be a great comfort to you when you are driving through Texas and you get a ticket for having a license plate holder on your car that obscures 1/3 of the top of the letters of the name of whatever state it's registered in.

Note that it doesn't matter if you can clearly distinguish the state of origin from the plate itself. If just a tiny bit of the lettering is obscured in any way, you can be ticketed.

[The Red Zone]

Or if not "political" could it be called private communication. The emails were not directed to the public at large, but only to named politicians. Now if somebody took an ad out in the Miami Herald, addressed purportedly to the Florida legislature, which stated that Michael Schiavo is a murdering scum, THAT could be libel (I say "could" ;-).

[The Red Zone]

Can you imagine the political firestorm this would trigger, however. If Schiavo goes after a political activism site like this one, the law could quite well get changed on him again.

[ambrose]

hmmm, I wasn't tryin' to be funny

[The Raven]

[Jim Robinson]

Ok, fun and games over. Time to get back to work.
Jim

[f.Christian]

tac ...

VICTORY IS MINE!

f.Christian and I have had fights before.

He doesn't much like it when you point out to him that most of what he credits Christianity with is actually attributable to the pagans.

fC ...

attributable to the pagans ? ? ?


rm7 ...

To: Hermann the Cherusker

**Your claiming of those Deists as Protestants proves my point that Protestantism doesn't really care what a man believes, and certainly not if he believes in Christ or not, so long as it is not Catholicism. **

Thank you for the opportunity to post this. Note only one Catholic..

Denominational Affiliations of the Framers of the Constitution

Dr. Miles Bradford of the University of Dallas did a study on the denominational classifications that the delegates to the Constitutional Convention accepted for themselves. Contrary to myth, the following list, published by Bradford, indicates that only 3 out of 55 of the framers classified themselves as Deists.

Note: only those Denominations whose Confessions of Faith were expressly Calvinistic at this time have been identified as "Calvinist" denominations. While many "Old-School" Lutherans and "Whitfield" Methodists at this time would have identified themselves with a Calvinistic view of Predestination, their affiliation has for the sake of charity been assumed to be non-Calvinist.

New Hampshire

* John Langdon, CONGREGATIONALIST -- Calvinist
* Nicholas Gilman, CONGREGATIONALIST -- Calvinist

Massachusetts

* Elbridge Gerry, EPISCOPALIAN -- Calvinist
* Rufus King, EPISCOPALIAN -- Calvinist
* Caleb Strong, CONGREGATIONALIST -- Calvinist
* Nathaniel Gorham, CONGREGATIONALIST -- Calvinist Connecticut
* Roger Sherman, CONGREGATIONALIST -- Calvinist
* William Johnson, EPISCOPALIAN -- Calvinist
* Oliver Ellsworth, CONGREGATIONALIST -- Calvinist

New York


* Alexander Hamilton, EPISCOPALIAN -- Calvinist
* John Lansing, DUTCH REFORMED -- Calvinist
* Robert Yates, DUTCH REFORMED -- Calvinist

New Jersey

* William Patterson, PRESBYTERIAN -- Calvinist
* William Livingston, PRESBYTERIAN -- Calvinist
* Jonathan Dayton, EPISCOPALIAN -- Calvinist
* David Brearly, EPISCOPALIAN -- Calvinist
* William Churchill Houston, PRESBYTERIAN -- Calvinist

Pennsylvania


* Benjamin Franklin, DEIST
* Robert Morris, EPISCOPALIAN -- Calvinist
* James Wilson, DEIST
* Gouverneur Morris, EPISCOPALIAN -- Calvinist
* Thomas Mifflin, QUAKER
* George Clymer, QUAKER
* Thomas FitzSimmons, ROMAN CATHOLIC
* Jared Ingersoll, PRESBYTERIAN -- Calvinist

Delaware

* John Dickinson, QUAKER
* George Read, EPISCOPALIAN -- Calvinist
* Richard Bassett, METHODIST
* Gunning Beford, PRESBYTERIAN -- Calvinist
* Jacod Broom, LUTHERAN

Maryland

* Luther Martin, EPISCOPALIAN -- Calvinist
* Daniel Carroll, ROMAN CATHOLIC
* John Mercer, EPISCOPALIAN -- Calvinist
* James McHenry, PRESBYTERIAN -- Calvinist
* Daniel Jennifer, EPISCOPALIAN -- Calvinist

Virginia


* George Washington, EPISCOPALIAN (Non-Communicant)
* James Madison, EPISCOPALIAN -- Calvinist
* George Mason, EPISCOPALIAN -- Calvinist
* Edmund Randolph, EPISCOPALIAN -- Calvinist
* James Blair, Jr., EPISCOPALIAN -- Calvinist
* James McClung, PRESBYTERIAN -- Calvinist
* George Wythe, EPISCOPALIAN -- Calvinist

North Carolina

* William Davie, PRESBYTERIAN -- Calvinist
* Hugh Williamson, DEIST
* William Blount, PRESBYTERIAN -- Calvinist
* Alexander Martin, PRESBYTERIAN -- Calvinist
* Richard Spaight, EPISCOPALIAN -- Calvinist

South Carolina

* John Rutledge, EPISCOPALIAN -- Calvinist
* Charles Pinckney, EPISCOPALIAN -- Calvinist
* Pierce Butler, EPISCOPALIAN -- Calvinist
* Charles Pinckney, III, EPISCOPALIAN -- Calvinist

Georgia

* Abraham Baldwin, CONGREGATIONALIST -- Calvinist
* William Leigh Pierce, EPISCOPALIAN -- Calvinist
* William Houstoun, EPISCOPALIAN -- Calvinist
* William Few, METHODIST

327 posted on 09/30/2003 9:47 PM PDT by RnMomof7

fC ...

Are you one of the FR santamonica clueless ... food stamp thumpers - aclu expert --- soap box anarcho - loon raving maniacs ?


There's a collection of them very active here on the FR !

Overlords - god - godesses ... like the American elite --- politburo !

Higher gods - gospels ... media - educational establishment --- social engineers - NAZIS !

[R. Scott]

That is not a fair statement. Many that are very intellectual are also very emotional. Some can't control emotions. That doesn't mean they are intellectually challenged.

I did not state they were “intellectually challenged”, but that they “lash out with emotion”. When a person allows their emotion to override their intellect the result is often a purely emotional response to a situation.
When I find myself in that situation I try to set back, think about it and respond when in a more stable state of mind.

[R. Scott]

Exactly – it helps prevent the “foot in mouth” syndrome, and makes for a far more easily read post.

[Long Cut]

Great post, CP...just look at the hornet's nest it stirred up. It's been absolutely hilarious to watch the firing squad form up to shoot the messenger.

It has also been quite instructive to see how many FReepers are either 1. Totally ignorant of the law; and 2. Feel that it doesn't apply to them.

And the rivers of vitriol have run wide and deep in their rush to replace reasoned discourse!

The charge that you've attempted to "stifle free speech", as well, have been a source for much amusement.

Makes you wonder how tightly some people feel that shoe fitting.

Keep it up, some folks apparently need to have reality shown to them.

[Diva Betsy Ross]

You give me one example of how I have to grow up. I have not done one thing that would cause me to be involved in a libel or slander suit. Again, I say give me examples, give me proof, not generalizations. For example, I have not called you names.. well you on other had have called na and many other names.

You want me to grow up? I want you and your friends to stop trying to distract people from getting something done. Fair enough, we both have a right to our opnions.

The difference here is I do not go around telling people what they should and should not say and do. I do not go around making general threats to the entire forum if people here are not doing waht I want them to do.

We've got your point Poohbah, you don't want us to get involved in this case and you think everything we do and say in that regard is wrong, you ahve been saying so for well over a week now. My point to you is , this case, and how we feel about it ,is not about you and what you think. We do not care that you disagree with us. You have made your point, had your say posted your opnions...no one has banned you from this site, or threathened to sue you, you are free to disagree with us. But know that is not going to change anything at all. This is bigger than you.

Accept it and move on.

[LPM1888]

Nah, but if you're ever in Tally, I'll buy you a beer

Sounds good. I'll let you know the next time I travel that direction.

[Neets]

Darn it!!!

[bvw]

So here comes another another minister from the Ministry of Fear. With your attitude Texas would still be Nuevo Leon.

[Catspaw]

LP is the best relief valve to FR in know of. There are others. Without such, I believe FR would have already have self-destructed. The talk and threats would have stopped and the real court actions would have started.

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Title: I'M WATCHING YOU FR BUT GOOD YOU SOCIALIST BUSHBOT RATTYTATRATS Source: Free Republic URL Source: http://www.freerepublic.com Published: Octember 83, 1927 Author: TARDshow Post Date: 2003-10-14 10:22:39 by TARDshow 5 Comments The Bushbots keep ignoring what Rush and me Tardshow keep telling them about being socialist rats and changing the lightbulb like Ann Coulter I told them to and I TARDshow will FReep them. BUT GOOD! I have the gift and the gift is truth more than that old mean Howlin. Post Comment

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Top • Page Up • Full Thread • Page Down • Bottom/Latest

1. To: TARDshow (#0) Thats right Toddster. FR is so gone because the light bulb is out. I give it 4 weeks, Jim needs to can the socialists, and I'm waiting for the Bushbots to come here so I can really give them a piece of my mind while changing the lightbulb. Red Fez  posted on  2003-10-14   11:32:55 ET  Reply   Trace

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2. To: TARDshow (#0) This light bulb business sounds so familiar. I hate FR, I hate Jim, I hate everybody. polesmok  posted on  2003-10-14   12:13:35 ET  Reply   Trace

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3. To: TARDshow (#0)

Ever since JustAmy was so mean about that picture, I couldn't gain enough composure to change the light bulb. I just hate them, hate them all for what they did with the darkened Poetry Room. Canuckwhite  posted on  2003-10-14   12:27:18 ET  Reply   Trace

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4. To: TARDshow (#0) So typical of treachery against the truest of true conservative ideas by those RINO trolls at FR. I won't even look at them any more. bunnyhop  posted on  2003-10-14   13:57:31 ET  Reply   Trace

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5. To: TARDshow (#3) When I was there counting the money and running the show, we got a half a million dollars every quarter from the fundraiser, and could buy the best lightbulbs, which I will sell to FReepers and Lepers at a discount. I'd sooner destroy my former friend's business than watch him thrive, since I'm mad that he wouldn't encourage anarchists to come talk at his site, nor would he just accept the notion that some people prefer the dark. sadjoe  posted on  2003-10-14   14:22:41 ET  Reply

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[bvw]

QED

[harrowup]

LP is the best relief valve to FR in know of. There are others. Without such, I believe FR would have already have self-destructed.

I hope this is a warning to all those posters who believe they have special rights because of their status, self-promoted or otherwise.

If CP is really an attorney then he must know that when he makes a claim he needs to cite his reference. When he makes a false claim and refuses to retract it he is guilty of malfeasance. Those who support him are equally guilty. (His claim was that thousands of plaintiffs prevail in defamation lawsuits which is absurb on its face).

LP and the other anti-type havens wouldn't be necessary if the protected blowhards lost a little skin now and again. Turnabout is fairplay but only when both parties are at risk.

[Catspaw]

Don't ping me again for any reason, but especially on this topic. You are obsessed with this. And I'm not interested. I don't care. Leave me alone.