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In detail. A friend of mine came to a town meeting. As the meeting came to the subject he wanted to address -- some point of zoning law -- the chairman of the board rebuked him with a calumnity, a slander. It was true, but a slander nonetheless. It is known as false lights.

My friend had lost his temper with a secretary in the zoning office, he had made some intemperate and profane remarks to her -- since she was only a secretary, it was not fair to her in any case. This had happened weeks prior to the meeting and my friend had already long ago apologized. Moreover all that phone incident was a private matter.

Nevertheless the Chairman publicly rebuked my friend -- before my friend had a chance to speak on the issue at hand. Yet what the chairman said WAS ALL TRUE.

Still, by making that TRUE accusation the Chairman had slandered my friend in two ways. One was that he brought public shame upon my friend for a private matter. The second -- and this is the "false lights" -- he ruined to a good and potent degree the chance of a fair hearing to my friend's remarks upon the zoning issue. The chairman was like one of those shore-operating pirates who would hang false signal lights along the shore to lure ships and cargo into shoals and shallows to be wrecked and stranded.

False lights slander.