Long may we take for granted the freedom to malign the powerful
(You know, I fundamentally agree with this, but as the money = free speech argument goes (which Scalia agrees with), it's apparent that the rich can do plenty of damage with this "right." gd)
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Some of us celebrated the 50th anniversary of the 1964 United States Supreme Court decision New York Times v. Sullivan last month, but for most the anniversary went unnoticed.
Fifty years ago, the Supreme Court decided that it would place one of the most demanding legal burdens upon public officials when they file defamation lawsuits.
When suing for defamation, public officials would have to prove that a defendant's statements were made with "actual malice." This was a new term of art and burden that the Supreme Court created and applied to public officials based on our country's historical, social and political rejection of public officials' censorship of their detractors.
This high burden has allowed people to call both presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama fascist Nazi dictators with no real fear of legal repercussion. While other western industrialized democracies have a much lower burden for defamation and thus make it easier for a public official to sue a critic, we take this freedom for granted — as well we should.
http://www.kentucky.com/2014/04/14/3195089/long-may-we-take-for-granted-the.html?sp=/99/349/#storylink=cpy