AJ 025 Lecture Notes - Lecture 14: Actual Malice
4 Oct 2020
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Document Summary
Defamation: involves wrongfully hurting a person"s good reputation. Courts must balance free speech rights against other strong social interests. Libel: defamation in writing or another permanent form (digital recording) Also when a false statement of fact is made about a person"s product, business, or legal ownership rights to property. Statement of fact vs. statement of opinion. Under 1st amendment, statement of opinion is protected. Negative comment defamation unless the statement is false and represents something as a fact (ie. lane cheats on his taxes) The publication requirement: defamatory statements are communication to persons other than the defamed party. Third party overhearing defamatory statements = actionable. Liable if republish or repeat defamatory statements. Damages for libel: once liability for libel is established, general damages are presumed as matter of law. Gen. damages are designed to compensate the plaintiff for nonspecific harms such as disgrace or dishonor in the eyes of the community, humiliation, injured reputation, emotional distress (difficult to measure)
