Law Commons^™

Contracting Away The First Amendment?: When Courts Should Intervene In Nondisclosure Agreements, Abigail Stephens

William & Mary Bill of Rights Journal

No abstract provided.

The Future Of Defamation In Illinois After Colson V. Steig And Chapski V. Copley Press, Inc., Linda A. Malone, Rodney A. Smolla

Linda A. Malone

No abstract provided.

Sharon Vs Time: The Criminal Responsibility Under International Law For Civilian Massacres, Linda A. Malone

Linda A. Malone

No abstract provided.

The Most Loved, Most Hated Magazine In America: The Rise And Demise Of Confidential Magazine, Samantha Barbas

William & Mary Bill of Rights Journal

No abstract provided.

Honest Victim Scripting In The Twitterverse, Francine Banner

William & Mary Journal of Race, Gender, and Social Justice

This Article critically analyzes Tweets regarding recent allegations of interpersonal violence against celebrities in order to explore societal perceptions of, and expectations about, alleged victims. The Article concludes that Twitter may be viewed as a micro-courtroom in which victims’ veracity and perpetrators’ responses are evaluated, interrogated, and assessed. A key, feminist critique of rape law is that the determination of the perpetrator’s guilt or innocence too often hinges on an assessment of the victim’s character. This is borne out on social networking sites, where terms such as “gold digger,” “slut,” and “ho” are engaged with regularity to describe those who …

The Future Of Defamation In Illinois After Colson V. Steig And Chapski V. Copley Press, Inc., Linda A. Malone, Rodney A. Smolla

Rod Smolla

No abstract provided.

Reform Libel Law?, Rodney A. Smolla, Don Reuben

Rod Smolla

No abstract provided.

Rethinking First Amendment Assumptions About Racist And Sexist Speech, Rodney A. Smolla

Rod Smolla

No abstract provided.

The Annenberg Libel Reform Proposal: The Case For Enactment, Rodney A. Smolla, Michael J. Gaertner

Rod Smolla

No abstract provided.

Freedom Of Speech, Defamation, And Injunctions, David S. Ardia

William & Mary Law Review

It has long been a fixture of Anglo-American law that defamation plaintiffs are not entitled to injunctive relief; their remedies are solely monetary. Indeed, it has been repeated as a truism: “equity will not enjoin a libel.” This precept rests on one of the strongest presumptions in First Amendment jurisprudence: that injunctions against libel and other kinds of speech are unconstitutional prior restraints. But it may not be true, at least not anymore.

Over the past decade, the Internet has brought increased attention to the adequacy of the remedies available in defamation cases. Prior to the widespread availability of digital …

Speech, Intent, And The Chilling Effect, Leslie Kendrick

William & Mary Law Review

Speaker’s intent requirements are a common but unremarked feature of First Amendment law. From the “actual malice” standard for defamation to the specific-intent requirement for incitement, many types of expression are protected or unprotected depending on the state of mind with which they are said. To the extent that courts and commentators have considered why speaker’s intent should determine First Amendment protection, they have relied upon the chilling effect. On this view, imposing strict liability for harmful speech, such as defamatory statements, would overdeter, or chill, valuable speech, such as true political information. Intent requirements are necessary prophylactically to provide …

Chapters Of The Civil Jury, Doug R. Rendleman

Doug Rendleman

The civil jury, though constitutionally protected by the seventh amendment, has remained a controversial institution throughout much of Anglo-American legal history. Our romantic ideals are questioned by critics who view the civil jury as prejudiced and unpredictable; proponents note the sense of fairness and "earthy wisdom" gained by community participation in the legal process. This debate surfaces in the process of accommodation between certain substantive goals of the law and the pre-verdict and post-verdict procedural devices courts have employed to control the jury. In this article, Professor Rendleman examines this conflict in his three "chapters" involving racially motivated discharges of …

The Corporate Defamation Plaintiff In The Era Of Slapps: Revisiting New York Times V. Sullivan, D. Mark Jackson

William & Mary Bill of Rights Journal

Corporations have increasingly used defamation suits as an offensive weapon. Many of these suits may be defined as SLAPP suits-Strategic Litigation Against Public Participation. These suits, often meritless, are designed to harass and silence a corporations' critics. Following a survey oft he history of defamation law and the protection of free speech, this Note argues that corporations should be treated as per se public figures in defamation suits. This derives from the uniquely public nature of a corporation and an assumption of the risk of defamatory falsehoods that arises from the act of incorporation.Treating corporations in this manner would place …

Two Degrees Of Speech Protection: Free Speech Through The Prism Of Agricultural Disparagement Laws, Harold M. Wasserman

William & Mary Bill of Rights Journal

In the wake of a 1989 national television broadcast reporting the alleged cancer risk of a chemical applied to apples on trees, many states passed agricultural product disparagement (APD) statutes. These statutes grant civil causes of action to the growers and sellers of perishable food products, against anyone who speaks negatively or disparagingly, without basis in scientific evidence, about the product's safety. In this Article, Howard M Wasserman explores the interplay between the APD statutes and the First Amendment. First, Mr. Wasserman discusses the three categories of restrictions on the freedom of speech, focusing primarily on private civil tort actions …

Vanity And Vexation: Shifting The Focus To Media Conduct, Jane E. Kirtley

William & Mary Bill of Rights Journal

Lawsuits brought by corporations against news organizations during the last few years demonstrate that it is no longer sufficient for the press to get its facts straight. With some industries literally fighting for their lives, a new legal climate has encourage litigation that deflects bad publicity by shifting the focus away from the traditional issue of accuracy to a critical examination of the news media's newsgathering techniques. Concerns about the reaction of courts to unorthodox reporting methods may prompt news organizations to censor themselves, but the author argues that facing the threat of mega-verdicts or contempt citations should be regarded …

Of "Sloppy Journalism," Corporate Tyranny," And Mea Culpas: The Curious Case Of Moldea V. New York Times, David A. Logan

William & Mary Law Review

No abstract provided.

Monkey Trials: Science, Defamation, And The Suppression Of Dissent, Michael Kent Curtis

William & Mary Bill of Rights Journal

In 1992, Rolling Stone magazine published "The Origin of AIDS. ?" The article explored a controversial and unconfirmed theory that the AIDS epidemic had been an inadvertent result of a polio vaccine trial conducted in Africa in the late 1950s. The researcher who conducted the African trials discussed by Rolling Stone sued the magazine for libel. He alleged that the article should be interpreted as asserting that he had caused the epidemic, that the AIDS-polio vaccine theory was false, and that it defamed him. Monkey Trials explores the controversial theory of the origin of AIDS and considers whether discussion (or …

A Matter Of Opinion: Milkovich Four Years Later, Kathryn Dix Sowle

William & Mary Bill of Rights Journal

No abstract provided.

Whither The Press: The Fourth Estate And The Journalism Of Blame, Gerald G. Ashdown

William & Mary Bill of Rights Journal

No abstract provided.

Obsolete On Its Face: The Libel Per Quod Rule (With R. Meslar), Richard Conviser

All Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Obsolete On Its Face: The Libel Per Quod Rule (With R. Meslar), Richard Conviser

Richard Conviser

No abstract provided.

Equality And Freedom Of Expression: The Hate Speech Dilemma, Toni M. Massaro

William & Mary Law Review

No abstract provided.

Humor, Defamation And Intentional Infliction Of Emotional Distress: The Potential Predicament For Private Figure Plaintiffs, Catherine L. Amspacher, Randel Steven Springer

William & Mary Law Review

No abstract provided.

Rethinking First Amendment Assumptions About Racist And Sexist Speech, Rodney A. Smolla

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

The Annenberg Libel Reform Proposal: The Case For Enactment, Rodney A. Smolla, Michael J. Gaertner

William & Mary Law Review

No abstract provided.

Reform Libel Law?, Rodney A. Smolla, Don Reuben

Popular Media

No abstract provided.

Emotional Distress, The First Amendment, And This Kind Of Speech: A Heretical Perspective On Hustler Magazine V. Falwell, Paul A. Lebel

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Employer Defamation: The Role Of Qualified Privilege, Pamela G. Posey

William & Mary Law Review

No abstract provided.

Protecting The Right To Criticize Government: A Proposal For A Symmetry Of Defamation Privileges, Paul A. Lebel

Popular Media

No abstract provided.

The Good, The Bad, And The Press, Paul A. Lebel

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.