This is less about suing for damages, than it is about public opinion. Your last point about intent is correct: Cain only needs to prove it false.
The very mention of a courthouse would create pressure for the women to throw their cards on the table. Their refusal to do so, would of course favor Cain. I’m not so sure about the 3rd lady: 13 years is a long time.
“This is less about suing for damages, than it is about public opinion. Your last point about intent is correct: Cain only needs to prove it false.”
Under the First Amendment of the United States Constitution, as set forth by the U.S. Supreme Court in the 1964 Case, New York Times v Sullivan, where a public figure attempts to bring an action for defamation, the public figure must prove an additional element: That the statement was made with “actual malice”.
-http://www.expertlaw.com/library/personal_injury/defamation.html#3
Cain’s a public figure. The court would probably require an intent / actual malice element.