Law Commons^™

One New President, One New Patriarch And A Generous Disregard For The Constitution: A Recipe For The Continuing Decline Of Secular Russia, Robert C. Blitt

Scholarly Works

The government of Russia and the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC) - the country’s predominant religious group - recently underwent back-to-back changes in each institution’s respective leadership. This coincidence of timing affords a unique opportunity to reassess the status of constitutional secularism and church–state relations in the Russian Federation.

Following a discussion of the presidential and patriarchal elections that occurred between March 2008 and January 2009, the Article surveys recent developments in Russia as they relate to the nation’s constitutional obligations. In the face of this analysis, the Article argues that the government and the ROC alike continue to willfully undermine …

Should New Bills Of Rights Address Emerging International Human Rights Norms? The Challenge Of 'Defamation Of Religion', Robert C. Blitt

Scholarly Works

The emerging international human rights norm of “defamation of religion,” an ongoing flashpoint in debates at the United Nations (UN) and elsewhere, merits the attention of all parties playing a role in the drafting of new bills of rights. This article uses the case study of defamation of religion, as an emerging norm and the current debate over a possible Australian bill of rights, to argue that a well-rounded drafting process. This drafting process should contemplate the relevancy and impact of emerging norms as a means of enhancing the process, deepening domestic understanding of rights, and ensuring an outcome instrument …

Internet Publications And Defamation: Why The Single Publication Rule Should Not Apply, Odelia Braun

Golden Gate University Law Review

This vast use of the Internet changes the scope of harm associated with defamation. Communications on the Internet are more pervasive than print. For this reason, they have tremendous power to damage a person's reputation. Once a message enters cyberspace, millions of people worldwide can gain access to it. Any posted message or report can be republished by printing, or more commonly, by forwarding it instantly to a different location, leading to potentially endless replication. The power to defame others over the Internet is extraordinary.

Repairing Online Reputation: A New Multi-Modal Regulatory Approach, Jacqueline Lipton

Jacqueline D Lipton

In today’s interconnected digital society, high profile examples of online abuses abound. Cyberbullies launch attacks on the less powerful, often significantly damaging victims’ reputations. Outside of reputational damage, online harassment, bullying and stalking has led to severe emotional distress, loss of employment, physical assault and even death. Recent scholarship has identified this phenomenon but has done little more than note that current laws are ineffective in combating abusive online behaviors. This article moves the debate forward both by suggesting specific reforms to criminal and tort laws and, more importantly, by situating those reforms within a new multi-modal framework for combating …

The Intrinsic Character Of Defamatory Content As Grounds For A Uniform Regime Of Proving Libel, Nat S. Stern

Nat S Stern

On two occasions the Supreme Court has intimated that plaintiffs in defamation suits do not bear the burden of proving falsity if the defendant is not a member of the media or if the speech addresses a matter of private concern. This Article argues that these potential limitations assign insufficient weight to factual falsity as an intrinsic property of actionable libel. Waiver of plaintiffs’ burden of proof where disputed speech does not involve a public concern, in particular, confuses threshold actionability with considerations relevant to defendants’ intent. Lower court decisions since Milkovich v. Lorain Journal Co., in which the Court …

False And Misleading Campaign Speech And The Need For Reform, Kirsten L. Wilcox

Kirsten L Wilcox

This article examines the prevalence of false and misleading speech in political campaigns and the role of the media in proliferating this false speech. Four examples of false speech from the 2008 presidential campaign are considered, as well as the effects of that speech. The media contributes to the problem of false speech when it fails to correct false statements and repeats misleading claims. Several solutions are proposed for decreasing the amount of false or misleading speech in campaigns, including better fact checking, public service announcements, coverage restrictions and a ratings system.

The Intrinsic Character Of Defamatory Content As Grounds For A Uniform Regime Of Proving Libel, Nat S. Stern

Nat S Stern

On two occasions the Supreme Court has intimated that plaintiffs in defamation suits do not bear the burden of proving falsity if the defendant is not a member of the media or if the speech addresses a matter of private concern. This Article argues that these potential limitations assign insufficient weight to factual falsity as an intrinsic property of actionable libel. Waiver of plaintiffs’ burden of proof where disputed speech does not involve a public concern, in particular, confuses threshold actionability with considerations relevant to defendants’ intent. Lower court decisions since Milkovich v. Lorain Journal Co., in which the Court …

An Interpretive Framework For Narrower Immunity Under Section 230 Of The Communications Decency Act, Gregory M. Dickinson

Gregory M Dickinson

Almost all courts to interpret Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act have construed its ambiguously worded immunity provision broadly, shielding Internet intermediaries from tort liability so long as they are not the literal authors of offensive content. Although this broad interpretation effects the basic goals of the statute, it ignores several serious textual difficulties and mistakenly extends protection too far by immunizing even direct participants in tortious conduct.

This analysis, which examines the text and history of Section 230 in light of two strains of pre-Internet vicarious liability defamation doctrine, concludes that the immunity provision of Section 230, though …

Communication Indecency: Why The Communications Decency Act, And The Judicial Interpretation Of It, Has Led To A Lawless Internet In The Area Of Defamation, Colby Ferris

Barry Law Review

First, this article explores how law of defamation has been applied in the brick and mortar world, and how those same principles were applied to the cyber world. Next it looks at Congress’s legislation of defamation law on the Internet, and how that legislation has been applied in court. Finally, it evaluates the changing attitude toward that legislation, and changes Congress should consider making.

When Is Religious Speech Outrageous?: Snyder V. Phelps And The Limits Of Religious Advocacy, Jeffrey Shulman

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

The Constitution affords great protection to religiously motivated speech. Religious liberty would mean little if it did not mean the right to profess and practice as well as to believe. But are there limits beyond which religious speech loses its constitutional shield? Would it violate the First Amendment to subject a religious entity to tort liability if its religious profession causes emotional distress? When is religious speech outrageous?

These are vexing questions, to say the least; but the United States Supreme Court will take them up next term—and it will do so in a factual context that has generated as …

Free Speech At What Cost?: Snyder V. Phelps And Speech-Based Tort Liability, Jeffrey Shulman

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

It is always a hard case when fundamental interests collide, but the Fourth Circuit’s decision in Snyder v. Phelps, 580 F.3d 206 (4th Cir. 2009), cert. granted, 130 S. Ct. 1737 (2010), tilts doctrine too far in the direction of free speech, upsetting the Supreme Court’s careful weighing of interests that takes into account both the need for robust political debate and the need to protect private individuals from personal abuse. Where speech is directed at a private individual, especially one unwilling to hear but unable to escape the speaker’s message, the elements of the emotional distress claim more than …

The U.N. Security Council Ad Hoc Rwanda Tribunal: International Justice, Or Judicially-Constructed “Victor’S Impunity”?, C. Peter Erlinder

C. Peter Erlinder

ABSTRACT The U.N. Security Council Ad Hoc Rwanda Tribunal: International Justice, or Juridically-Constructed “Victor’s Impunity”? Prof. Peter Erlinder [1] ________________________ “…if the Japanese had won the war, those of us who planned the fire-bombing of Tokyo would have been the war criminals….” [2] Robert S. McNamara, U.S. Secretary of State “…and so it goes…” [3] Billy Pilgrim (alter ego of an American prisoner of war, held in the cellar of a Dresden abattoir, who survived firebombing by his own troops, author Kurt Vonnegut Jr.) Introduction Unlike the postWW- II Tribunals, the U.N. Security Council tribunals for the former Yugoslavia [10] …