American Aristocracy
z INTRO.
— HISTORY
— CASES
— ISSUES
— SOLUTIONS
 “Some of their fellow-citizens
acquired a power over the rest
which might truly have been
called aristocratic, if it had been
capable of invariable
transmission from father to
son.”
—Alexis de Toqueville
(1840, 4)
Jan Brewer
Jeff Sessions
Hilary Clinton
George Bush, Sr.
Governor of Arizona
U.S. Senator
U.S. Secretary of State
41st President
PUBLIC OFFICIALS
Public Officials
z INTRO.
— HISTORY
— CASES
— ISSUES
— SOLUTIONS
 Gained interest because
their occupation affects the
public at the national, state,
and/or local level
 Recognized for knowledge,
leadership skills, and
charisma
Ellen Pompeo
Kobe Bryant
Beyonce Knowles
Brad Pitt
T.V. Actress
Professional Basketball
Player
Singer
Actor
PUBLIC FIGURES
Public Figures
z INTRO.
— HISTORY
— CASES
— ISSUES
 Gained interest because
their occupation interests the
public
— SOLUTIONS
 “The glamorous
impersonates the ordinary.”
— Laura Mulvey
(1975, 205)
What is Defamation?
z INTRO.
— HISTORY
— CASES
— ISSUES
 False & derogatory
statements that injure
reputation
— SOLUTIONS
 Slander & libel
 Tortus = twisted
The Twists
z INTRO.
— HISTORY
— CASES
— ISSUES
— SOLUTIONS
 The First Amendment vs.
English common law
 Private Individuals v. Public
Figures/Officials
English Common Law Tradition
— INTRO.
z HISTORY
— CASES
— ISSUES
— SOLUTIONS
 1275 statute outlawing slander
between King & people
 Penance vs. temporal grievance
 Court of Star Chamber & birth
of libel law
 Importance of reputation in
English society
Defamation in the United States
— INTRO.
z HISTORY
— CASES
— ISSUES
— SOLUTIONS
 “Congress shall make no
law. . . abridging the
freedom of speech, or of the
press.”
 The Sedition Act of 1798
 Common law remained
intact
Officials Become Public
— INTRO.
z HISTORY
 Prior to 1896—no press space in
White House
— CASES
— ISSUES
— SOLUTIONS
 Appearance of mass-circulation
press
 Theodore Roosevelt holds press
conferences
 After Watergate—shift in public
interest
Pres. Kennedy as a Public Official
— INTRO.
z HISTORY
— CASES
 The masquerade of Camelot
in the 1960’s
— ISSUES
— SOLUTIONS
 Post-Watergate—reality of
Kennedy’s private life
Emergence of Public Figures
— INTRO.
z HISTORY
— CASES
 The Hollywood Studio
Machine
— ISSUES
— SOLUTIONS
 The growth of tabloids
New York Times v. Sullivan (1964)
— INTRO.
— HISTORY
 The facts of the case
z CASES
— ISSUES
— SOLUTIONS
 Common law v.s. the First
Amendment
 Public officials & actual malice
 A new American standard
Time, Inc. v. Hill (1967)
— INTRO.
— HISTORY
 Facts of the case
z CASES
— ISSUES
— SOLUTIONS
 Not a libel suit
 A matter of public interest
 Hill as a public figure
Curtis Publishing Co. v. Butts (1967)
— INTRO.
— HISTORY
 Facts of the case
z CASES
— ISSUES
— SOLUTIONS
 Butts as a public figure
 Application of actual malice
standard
Gertz v. Robert Welch, Inc. (1974)
— INTRO.
— HISTORY
 Facts of the case
z CASES
— ISSUES
 Gertz as a private citizen
— SOLUTIONS
 Actual malice standard
inapplicable
 Treatment decided by the states
Philadelphia Newspapers, Inc. v. Hepps (1987)
— INTRO.
— HISTORY
 Facts of the case
z CASES
— ISSUES
— SOLUTIONS
 Common law and the burden of
proof
 The most constitutionally
protected entity
 Private citizens bear the burden
American Defamation Law
& the Federal System
— INTRO.
— HISTORY
— CASES
z ISSUES
— SOLUTIONS
 Milkovich v. Lorain Journal Co.
(1990) — a framework
 Burnett v. National Enquirer
(1981) — kinds of malice
 The categories of public officials
and public figures
 Differences in degree of fault
The Internet
— INTRO.
 Internet intermediaries
— HISTORY
— CASES
z ISSUES
— SOLUTIONS
 Communications Decency Act
(1996)
 Widespread anonymity; 55% of
bloggers use pseudonyms.
 An advanced version of a
classical forum
Remedies & Damages
— INTRO.
— HISTORY
— CASES
z ISSUES
— SOLUTIONS
 Monetary awards
 Declaratory relief
 Self-Help
 Right-of-Response statutes
 Injunctive relief
 Retraction
Five Key Issues
— INTRO.
— HISTORY
— CASES
z ISSUES
— SOLUTIONS
1. First Amendment vs.
common law
2. Public vs. private citizens
3. Differences between states
4. Defamation and the
internet
5. Insufficiency of remedies
Proposed Solution to Issue One:
The First Amendment vs. Common Law
— INTRO.
— HISTORY
— CASES
— ISSUES
z SOLUTIONS
 Support New York Times
interpretation of First
Amendment & common
law
 No actual malice
requirement in declaratory
relief claims
Proposed Solution to Issue Two:
Public vs. Private Distinction
— INTRO.
— HISTORY
 Categories needed
— CASES
— ISSUES
z SOLUTIONS
 Recommend the courts
redefine the major
categories based on today’s
social constructs
Thoughts on Issue Three:
Differences Between States
— INTRO.
— HISTORY
— CASES
— ISSUES
 Importance of enabling each
state to craft its own
defamation law
z SOLUTIONS
 The national framework
holds the law in place
Proposed Solution to Issue Four:
Defamation & the Internet
— INTRO.
— HISTORY
— CASES
— ISSUES
z SOLUTIONS
 Support Solove’s proposal
for exhausting informal
mechanisms when the
defendant is not a repeat
offender or part of a
broadcast or print-media
publication
Proposed Solutions to Issue Five:
Insufficiency of Remedies
— INTRO.
— HISTORY
— CASES
 Support a loser-pay-all
system
— ISSUES
z SOLUTIONS
 Believe declaratory relief
issued in the same
publication the defamatory
statement was released as
the most sufficient remedy
Final Thoughts
— INTRO.
— HISTORY
— CASES
— ISSUES
z SOLUTIONS
 The twist in defamation law
cannot be fully straightened
because of its very nature,
but perhaps, it can be
slightly untwisted with new
revision of the old law.
Major Sources
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Collins, Matthew. 2005. The Law of Defamation and the Internet. New York, N.Y.: Oxford
University Press, INC.
Curtis Publishing Company v Butts, 388 US 130 (1967)
<http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/cgibin/getcase.pl?court=US&vol=388&invol=13>
(accessed 20 September 2009).
Gertz v. Robert Welch, INC., 418 US 323 (1974) < http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/cgibin/getcase.pl?court=US&vol=418&invol=323> (accessed 19 September 2009).
Kupferman, Theodore R. ed. 1990. Defamation: Libel and Slander: Readings from
Communication and the Law, I. Westport, Connecticut: Meckler Corporation.
Milo, Dario. 2008. Defamation and Freedom of Speech. New York, N.Y.: Oxford University Press.
Mulvey, Laura. 1975. “Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema.” In The Routledge Critical and
Cultural Theory Reader. 2008. Eds. Neil Badmington and Julia Thomas. New York, N.Y.:
Routledge. 202-212.
New York Times Company v. Sullivan, 376 US 254 (1964)
<http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/scripts/getcase.pl?court=US&vol=376&invol=254>
(accessed 20 September 2009).
Philadelphia Newspapers, INC v. Hepps, 475 US 767 (1987)
<http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/scripts/getcase.pl?navby=search&court=US&case
=/us/475/767.html> (accessed 19 September 2009).
Major Sources
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Schwartz, Victor E., Kathryn Kelly, and David F. Partlett. 2005. Prosser, Wade, and Schwartz’s
Torts: Eleventh Edition. New York, N.Y.: Foundation Press.
Siegel, Paul. 2008. Communication Law in America: Second Edition. New York, N.Y.: Rowman &
Littlefield Publishers, INC.
Smolla, Rodney A. 1986. Suing the Press. New York, N.Y.: Oxford University Press, INC.
Solove, Daniel J. 2007. The Future of Reputation. New Haven, C.T.: Yale University Press.
Time, Inc. v. Hill, 385 U.S. 374 (1967)
<http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/cgibin/getcase.pl?court=US&vol=385&invol=374> (accessed
19 September 2009).
Tocqueville, Alexis de. 1840. “Equality of Condition.” In Classic Readings in American Politics: 3rd
Edition. 1999. Eds. Pietro S. Nivola and David H. Rosenbloom. New York, N.Y.: Worth
Publishers INC. 3-8.
Base Image Sources
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