Posted on 09/18/2019 2:41:11 PM PDT by scottinoc
“Remember, this was just within minutes and not 30 years ago.”
LOL yes, we played that game in 1st grade or so. We called it telephone and it went through a class of 25 or so 1st graders. What came out at the end didn’t even share one word with the original statement. :)
The trick is to get it to court. According to the New York Times Co. v. Sullivan decision, Judges cant sue for libel at all, and political officials, as a practical matter, cannot either.The interesting thing is that, in that unanimous 1964 decision, the Warren Court held that the First Amendment denigrated the right of judges and officials to sue for libel - And Antonin Scalia, in a lecture, explained that the First Amendment actually did not, does not, change anyones rights at all.
What!! How can that be!! The answer is that the Bill of Rights in general, and the First Amendment in particular, were composed and ratified to set the rights of the people, as they were accepted to exist in 1787, in concrete. The Ninth Amendment could scarcely be clearer on this point.
But doesnt the First Amendment create freedom of the press? NO! Freedom of the press existed in 1787, and so did limits on that freedom. If freedom of the press were absolute, pornography would be absolutely legal - and so would libel. There would never be any cases brought against either. And we know that isnt true.
The trick lies in the wording of 1A referring to the freedom of the press. Not absolute freedom, but freedom as understood in 1787.
Consequently the logic of the Sullivan decision is defective. 9-0 ruling or not.
The Warren Court Said That 1A Denigrated the Right Of Officials to Sue For Libel. That was WRONG.
Sponsoring FReepers are contributing
$10 Each time a New Monthly Donor signs up!
Get more bang for your FR buck!
Click Here To Sign Up Now!
See post #7
. . . but again, Wouldnt stand up in court is in the subjunctive mood. What we need to be able to say is that it did not stand up in court - meaning that
- it got to court, and that
- the plaintiff who sued for libel prevailed in court.
My #44 asserts that SCOTUS has a legitimate way of both accepting the case - in the teeth of the unanimous 1964 Warren Court claim in New York Times Co. v. Sullivan that 1A denigrated the right of officials to sue for libel - and finding for the plaintiff once there.
I withdraw the joke, Your Honor.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.