Via Slashdot, a story out of Texas that has some of the same components of Lebanon's ongoing learning experience - except, of course, that the person being sued is not anonymous and is a parent. From the Galveston Courier:
GALVESTON — The public school district has officially demanded that parent Sandra Tetley remove what it says is libelous material from her Web site or face a lawsuit for defamation.
Tetley received a letter Monday from the district’s law firm demanding she remove what it termed libelous statements and other “legally offensive” statements posted by her or anonymous users, and refrain from allowing such postings in the future. If she refuses, the district plans to sue her, the demand letter states.
...
One legal expert said the district’s move to sue Tetley is rare and unlawful. Under the 1964 Supreme Court case New York Times v. Sullivan, government entities cannot sue for libel — any court would toss out the “threatening” suit as being inconsistent with U.S. law, said Sandra Baron, executive director of New-York based Media Law Resource Center. She called the district’s potential lawsuit an intimidation tactic and a waste of taxpayer dollars.
Interesting.
More background can be found in another Galveston Courier story:
GALVESTON — An appeals court ruled in 2002 that school districts can’t sue for defamation, so Galveston school district may face some hurdles if it moves forward with its lawsuit.
In a case that Galveston school district’s attorney argued is different, Port Arthur’s public school district in 2001 tried to sue a blogger for defamation. The Texas Ninth Court of Appeals tossed out the lawsuit based on black-letter law: New York Times v. Sullivan clearly prohibits such lawsuits.
Someone should look up the New York Times v. Sullivan case. I'm too lazy.
Sandra Tetley's blog.
1 comments:
“Under the New York Times Vs. Sullivan rule public officials may not recover damages for a “defamatory falsehood” unless the public official can prove “actual malice” - that is “with knowledge that it was false or with reckless disregard of whether it was false or not.” This rule applies not only to criticism of official conduct but also to attacks on the honesty and integrity of public officials, whether elected, or appointed. It applies equally to civil libel suits and criminal libel prosecutions as the court ruled the same year in dismissing an indictment against new orleans DA James Garrison.” (pg 284)
(Lieberman, Jethro K. "A Practical Companion to the Constitution. University of California Press 1999.)
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