DEFAMATION -- LIBEL AND SLANDER [Florida Law - FReepers Heed]

Florida Bar Association ^

[Bikers4Bush]

He's an attempted murderer until she dies. Then he's a murderer.

[RGSpincich]

If he or his evil lawyer want to take me on, let 'em try. But fair warning...the only ones they usually try to take out are the weak and sick. I'm 6'3", 230 pounds, healthy, and I hit back. Hard. - TheBigB

If you believe you need legal advice, call your attorney. If you do not have an attorney, call The Florida Bar Lawyer Referral Service at 1-800-342-8011, or the local lawyer referral service or legal aid office listed in the yellow pages of your telephone book.

[Pan_Yans Wife]

If people didn't have to be so careful with their speech, then why is it that journalists in print and on television always used the words "alleged" when talking about a victim or a suspect? Wouldn't the same rules apply to everyone, when discussing a case like Schiavo?

[Bikers4Bush]

And he's definately a rapist.

[dirtboy]

Well hell, if that is the case you should have been wherever "there" is a long tome ago.

Ooh, that's gonna leave a mark...

[ckca]

OBVIOUSLY, Chancellor Palpatine posted this to "protect" this forum

Wrong. Palpatine despises those conservative activists who helped overturn the judicial fiat of one of his fellow lawyers/judges. He is a euthanasia proponent who has witnessed his agenda taking a major bitch slapping from the citizens of this country.

This is a personal vendetta by Palpatine against fellow FReepers with whom he disagrees and for whom he holds nothing but contempt.

[dirtboy]

You can no more be sued for calling Schiavo a murderer than you can be sued for calling Clinton a rapist.

Part of it would depend upon whether Shiavo can be deemed to have become a public figure yet by the court.

[Catspaw]

Why would you think this is only about Michael Schiavo? Plenty of cases have been discussed here, some much more heated than the Schiavo case (I'm thinking Elian)....Elizabeth Smart, the Westerfields, the Christines, Kobe, Scott Peterson, with many more to come. And I do remember a couple freepers who got visits from the USSS during the very heated impeachment era. And boy, don't even get started on the Bush-Gore election & recount.

What was posted was a general overview of defamation law.

[TheAngryClam]

And that does what, exactly?

First, if the Reagans wished to sue, they likely could, although as "public figures" it's much harder for them to sustain a suit. And no, Schiavo does not count as a public figure simply because you've latched on to his cause.

Second, "they're doing it, so can I" didn't work on the playground, so what makes you think it will work in grown-up land?

[onyx]

Get a grip, newbie.

The ACLU has joined Michael Shiavo (according to an article posted here) and that LEFT-WING group would love nothing more than to shut-down FREE REPUBLIC.

Your agenda fogs any ability, (however slight) that you might have to think clearly.

[PhiKapMom]

This is one of the most vile attempts at censorship I've ever witnessed here.

It is a warning not censorship. Actually if some Freepers would take some personal responsibility in their own posts, a warning would not be necessary! What I have read on these threads about the Florida case is unbelieveable -- didn't some of you ever hear of using facts?

Why the outrageous attacks on someone you don't agree with -- that is over the top IMHO! Must be nice to not feel you have to take responsibility for what you say because you can hide behind a screen name.

[jwalsh07]

Slander is spoken word, libel is written word.

And to opine in America , which is what we do here, is Constitutionally protected speech not subject to defamation laws.

[TheAngryClam]

Funny how you loved the law when you wanted to "protect" Terri Schiavo's life, and wanted to send her husband to jail, and when the law asked for the tube to be reinserted.

Have you any principles, or are you just the conservative equivalent to the average ACLUer?

[Bikers4Bush]

Schiavo is an adultering, insurance scamming liar who is in the process of murdering his wife.

[jwalsh07]

No, you can't be sued , arrested or pilloried in America for offering up opinions despite what Palpatine wants some to think.

[sinkspur]

Jim Robinson has stated in the past that even if under subpoena he would NEVER reveal identifying confidential information about individual FReepers.

As I remember, a FReeper got a visit from the Secret Service for a perceived threat against Clinton, and the name of that FReeper was furnished to them by Jim.

[Porterville]

First Amendment is non-negotiable, if you have a question about the First check the Second.

[Pan_Yans Wife]

Good for Jim. It mustn't have been pleasant to be questioned by the Secret Service.

[dirtboy]

No, you can't be sued , arrested or pilloried in America for offering up opinions despite what Palpatine wants some to think.

That's not correct - however, the threshhold for libel and slander are quite high in this country, as opposed to Britain - and whether or not someone is a public figure also plays into just how high the threshhold is.