Someone (Igor?) suggested I said that libel can't be criminalized. I don't think that's correct, but I may have been unclear. I haven't researched the question and can't call to mind a case directly on point, but my hunch is that states may criminalize libel, but a conviction would require that the state prove, beyond a reasonable doubt (because it's a criminal case), and that the defendant acted with actual malice (because the state is seeking to punish speech, and punitive damages in civil cases require proving actual malice). "Actual malice" means that the defendant said something s/he knew was untrue or recklessly disregarded the truth of what s/he said. (This excludes, for example, an "honest mistake" about what's true.) _Times v. Sullivan_, the case which introduced the actual malice standard, discussed Alabama's criminal libel statute - so the Supreme Court, in the mid 60's, didn't seem to have a problem with criminalizing libel. I can't seem to find a criminal libel statute in California; and if I remember correctly the Oregon Legislature contemplated but did not pass one during its last legislative session. Also, people interested in _Times v. Sullivan_ and the interplay between defamation and the First Amendment might find "Make No Law: The Sullivan Case and the First Amendment" by Anthony Lewis (ISBN 0-697-73939-4) of interest. The decision itself is online at <http://www.findlaw.com/scripts/getcase.pl?court=US&navby=case&vol=376&invol =254> - the factual summary of the Sullivan case posted here was not correct, and the first few pages of the opinion provide a description of the underlying facts. Since we've now got Jim Bell arguing that it's obvious that a free and open society must tolerate anything which might be defamatory, and Jim Choate arguing that it's obvious that a free and open society cannot tolerate anything which might be defamatory, I think I'm going to wander away from this discussion confident that the answer is, at least, nonobvious. :) -- Greg Broiles | US crypto export control policy in a nutshell: gbroiles@netbox.com | http://www.io.com/~gbroiles | Export jobs, not crypto. |