Libel laws in the US?

billy the squid

I was watching the clip linked below about some republican hack peddling her book calling liberals evil, but that is not really what caught my attention
http://movies.crooksandliars.com/TOF-Malkin-Book.wmv

In the course of the interview, the presenter, on Bill O'Reily, accuses another media organisation, Air America, of encouraging its listeners to assasinate the president.

Given that encouraging people to murder the head of state is more than likely a crime in the US, is this not slander or defamation?

In this country if you said something like that you would be before a judge pretty sharpish, so what can and can you not say in the US?

sceptre

billy the squid wrote:

so what can and can you not say in the US?

Very brief answer: pretty much anything you want about public figures in print or in other media, even if it's untrue as long as the judge doesn't rule that your comments were meant maliciously. And that's pretty difficult to prove.

Bill O'Reilly is a malicious shyster and reckons he's untouchable. If he didn't name specific people on Air America (which I assume is a radio station), in this case he pretty much is. He's still a malicious shyster though.

Hobbes

Do they even have them?

The mothers sister when she bops over from the US gives the mother loads of trash type newspapers (The Globe is the latest). I had a look at one. Here were the stories.

- Camila Furious with Charles having an affair with a canadian (letters for sell on ebay).

- Story about how a reporter is setting up Rice with another news reporter because it is confirmed she is a lesbian.

- Story about Harriet Meirs being a raging lesbian.

Stopped reading it after that, but wouldn't these people be able to sue for libel?

Cabaal

They'd be in court 24/7, I suppose if these people cared they'd sue

mikelmessi

I think libel fall under the fourth (?) amendment of the US Constitution protecting free speech. I know Kitty Kelley (scurrilious autobiographer) wrote a book on Pronce Phillip which couldn't be printed in UK because of libel laws. They're really into their free press over there.

bonkey

Putting "us libel laws" into google and hitting I'm Feeling Lucky turned up a pretty good explanation of it for me.

They have 'em alright.

Hobbes

Yea found this.

http://usinfo.state.gov/products/pubs/press/press08.htm

good read.

So basically if your a public figure in the US you can't easily sue for libel unless you can prove that the reporter was using malice. For private people they have to prove the reporter was negligent.

Aren't european laws on this it is up to the accuser to prove they are correct?

zenith

Hobbes wrote:

Aren't european laws on this it is up to the accuser to prove they are correct?

The Irish law, in a nutshell, is that the author has to be able to prove that what they wrote was true.

There are a number of other technical defences, but the truth is the big un.