libsln.htm -- Is Libel a Crime?
jim bell
jimbell at pacifier.com
Mon Jan 27 14:52:34 PST 1997
At 01:14 AM 1/27/97 -0600, ichudov at algebra.com wrote:
>I am not sure if you posted this information in response to my request
>to cite a statute that would prove that libel is a crime.
>
>Me> Jim Choate wrote:
>Me> >
>Me> >
>Me> >
>Me> > Are you aware that attributing statements in print to a party when that
>Me> > party did not write them is a crime?
>Me>
>Me> cite the statute
>
>
>These postings do not prove that libel is a crime. It is because libel
>is not a crime. Libel is a tort, and unlike with crime, the government
>cannot initiate a legal action against someone for libel. Only injured
>(libeled) individuals and not the government can sue in a libel case.
On the contrary, in some jurisdictions libel is indeed a crime. However,
that doesn't mean that prosecutions happen anymore, but the laws are (in
some places) still on the books.
Jim Bell
jimbell at pacifier.com
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