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Full-Text Articles in Legal History
The Rise And Fall Of Group Libel: The Forgotten Campaign For Hate Speech Laws, Samantha Barbas
The Rise And Fall Of Group Libel: The Forgotten Campaign For Hate Speech Laws, Samantha Barbas
Journal Articles
It is well-known that there is no “hate speech” law in the United States. This has been criticized, especially given the existence of robust hate speech laws in other nations. The absence of hate speech laws in American law has been attributed to legal, cultural, and historical factors, including speech protective First Amendment jurisprudence and long-standing skepticism of group reputation as an interest worthy of legal protection.
This Article presents another reason for the absence of hate speech laws in America: the failure of a large-scale social movement in the 1940s to pass hate speech laws or “group libel” laws, …