Day: February 4, 2012

There has been a bit of chatter here on Slabbed and elsewhere about the Nova Scotia court case, much of it by people who have no clue what I’ve written or clued into the fact I did not respond to the suit against me in Nova Scotia at all. It typically starts with the assumption that I libeled Leary and Perret and ends in some ignorant induced conclusion such as those found on this internet BB.  I am happy to have this discussion about the general topic but what do I know as I’m just a dumb redneck blogger from Mississippi.  😉

Before I posted to the internet on a financial message board for the first time a decade ago, I took time to learn about defamation and other issues. The concepts are not that hard to grasp.  I mention all this because there are a couple of websites that have lots of information on defamation and the use of predatory defamation suits to silence perceived critics aka the SLAPP suit.  I prefer Chilling Effects as their FAQ on US defamation laws is very good. Here is a snippet:

Question What are the elements of a defamation claim?

Answer: The party making a defamation claim (plaintiff) must ordinarily prove four elements:

1. a publication to one other than the person defamed;

2. a false statement of fact;

3. that is understood as

a. being of and concerning the plaintiff; and

b. tending to harm the reputation of plaintiff.

4. If the plaintiff is a public figure, he or she must also prove actual malice.

That 4th bullet is important, mainly because we do not blog much about non public figures here on Slabbed and yes Charles Leary and Vaughn Perret are public figures multiple ways: Continue reading “Since I’ve gotten so much free legal advice over the past couple of days lets talk 1st Amendment and Defamation”