{"id":76,"date":"2015-06-01T22:16:59","date_gmt":"2015-06-01T22:16:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/revolutionsincommunication.com\/law\/?page_id=76"},"modified":"2025-09-19T13:55:01","modified_gmt":"2025-09-19T13:55:01","slug":"libelhypothetical","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/revolutionsincommunication.com\/law\/libel\/libelhypothetical\/","title":{"rendered":"LIBEL HYPOTHETICALS"},"content":{"rendered":"

First Amendment first <\/strong>\u00a0— Think about the basic Constitutional commitment to free speech and press. Many people who are just starting to learn about libel and privacy tend to err on the side of caution and refrain from publishing perfectly legal and ethically appropriate information. Traditionally, media professionals and US courts have erred on the side of free speech.\u00a0 \u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

These relatively simple situations have both legal and ethical dimensions. Your mission is to consider the Analytical Questions and then apply them to the Hypothetical Situations below.<\/p>\n

———<\/p>\n

Analytical Questions\u00a0 — <\/strong>Ask these questions as you consider the situations below.\u00a0\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Elements:\u00a0\u00a0Are the 5 elements of libel present? \u00a0(Publication \/ Broadcast; Identification; Defamation; Fault; and Damages).<\/li>\n
  2. Defenses: Can any of the main libel defenses be applied? \u00a0(Truth, Privilege, Fair Comment & Criticism)<\/li>\n
  3. Public \/ Private: Is the plaintiff a public figure or a private figure? (Will the courts apply the public figure Sullivan “actual malice” standard or is this a private person for whom the courts will apply a simple negligence standard?)<\/li>\n
  4. Case law: \u00a0What similar cases are there that can help guide your decision making process?\u00a0(AP v Walker, Curtis v Butts, etc).<\/li>\n
  5. \u00a0Mitigation: If you have made a mistake, what\u00a0can you do to mitigate damages?<\/li>\n
  6. Motion to Dismiss:\u00a0\u00a0If you are in a strong position, should you ask the court to dismiss the case before it goes to trial?<\/li>\n
  7. Ethical issues:\u00a0\u00a0Even if you are in the clear legally, have you considered the ethical issues such as minimizing harm \u00a0and having compassion for those who may be affected adversely by the media. \u00a0(See 6.3 Professional Ethics <\/a>at this this site).<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    ———–<\/p>\n

    Hypothetical libel situations. \u00a0<\/strong>Your law firm has been asked to analyze these seven situations below. \u00a0Using the analysis above, write several sentences per case.\u00a0 Turn in via D2L drop box.<\/p>\n

      \n
    1. In an open public session of the student government association, the SGA president makes some candid remarks that show irritation with the university administration. This is nothing terribly embarrassing but she is regretting her remarks. So she wants to make sure that the story does not reflect badly on her and she tells the student newspaper editor that she doesn\u2019t have permission to quote her. She threatens to sue for libel if she is quoted. \u00a0What are the legal and ethical issues you need to consider?<\/li>\n
    2. A Christian folk rock group known as the Blessed Punks plays on campus. The reviewer for your student web magazine writes that the only religious part of the experience was the wailing of damned souls coming from the stage. The university decides not to invite them back, saying students didn’t like them.\u00a0 The Blessed Punks sue the web magazine for libel.<\/li>\n
    3. \u00a0A teacher, Mary Sue Smith, is arrested and charged with shoplifting. She suffers ridicule from other teachers in the area. You publish the story and the facts are recorded accurately from the police blotter. She sues for invasion of privacy and libel.<\/li>\n
    4. Lets say the same teacher is inaccurately identified on your web site.\u00a0 Its not Mary Sue Smith, it\u2019s Mary Roberta Smith. You check the police blotter and sure enough, you made a mistake when you wrote down the name. You had a few days to check it, but you didn\u2019t.\u00a0 So now Mary S. Smith is suing for libel.\u00a0\u00a0 What do you do?<\/li>\n
    5. In court testimony, the president of Drophdar University says that Frank Mann, a scientist at the university, committed criminal fraud by using state funds to pursue research into climate change. \u00a0You publish the story and now the professor is suing your publication and the university president for libel. \u00a0Are you in trouble in this libel case?<\/li>\n
    6. An article accusing the mayor of dealing drugs has appeared in one of your news organization\u2019s blogs. You ask a reporter about it, and it turns out that the allegations were made by a confidential source. \u00a0Even though the reporter did not believe they were true, he thought he should report the single-source allegation. It\u2019s already on the internet. What do you do?<\/li>\n
    7. An election ad for a local GOP group accuses a democratic state legislator of \u201chigh treason.\u201d \u00a0The reason for the accusation appears to be support for gay rights and opposition to gun rights.\u00a0 Is it libel?<\/li>\n
    8. A video of a security guard being arrested and handcuffed on charges of child molesting is shown on your news program. You report only\u00a0the facts of the arrest, but it turns out that the arrest was the result of a parent’s complaint about a shoplifting search.\u00a0 The charges against the guard are dismissed, but she is so embarrassed that she sues your organization anyway to recover her reputation.\u00a0 Is this libel? What legal or ethical actions might you take?<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

      First Amendment first \u00a0— Think about the basic Constitutional commitment to free speech and press. Many people who are just starting to learn about libel and privacy tend to err on the side of caution and refrain from publishing perfectly … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"parent":34,"menu_order":7,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"full-width-page.php","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-76","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/revolutionsincommunication.com\/law\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/76","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/revolutionsincommunication.com\/law\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/revolutionsincommunication.com\/law\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/revolutionsincommunication.com\/law\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/revolutionsincommunication.com\/law\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=76"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/revolutionsincommunication.com\/law\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/76\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6752,"href":"https:\/\/revolutionsincommunication.com\/law\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/76\/revisions\/6752"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/revolutionsincommunication.com\/law\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/34"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/revolutionsincommunication.com\/law\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=76"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}