they know it's perfectly legal to lie
And, as usual, you lie. It is NOT perfectly legal to lie. A great many lies will have no consequences- -but not all.
These are the facts, if you care, which I doubt.
[A] Public Officials
The constitutionalization of defamation law began with the Supreme Court's 1964 decision of New York Times v. Sullivan, 376 U.S. 254 (1964), in which the Court held that a public official could only prevail in a defamation action where the public official shows that the defendant either knew that the statement was false or recklessly disregarded whether the communication was false, a fault standard known as "actual malice." The Court also required that this actual malice standard be proven by "convincing clarity," which has been interpreted as requiring the plaintiff to establish actual malice by the heightened burden of proof of "clear and convincing evidence." The Sullivan decision only affects defamation actions against public officials, those individuals who are positioned to affect policy.
[B] Public Figures
The constitutionalization of defamation law continued in earnest when a few years after Sullivan the Court determined that "public figures," like public officials, should have to prove actual malice in order to prevail in defamation actions. The Court justified this move by noting that public figures generally have access to the media to counteract false communications and because they have assumed the risk of reputational harm by involving themselves in issues of importance. The Court has recognized two general categories of public figures: an all-purpose public figure, who is someone widely known and a limited public figure, who is a person who injects himself into a controversy (or gets drawn into one). The Supreme Court has narrowly circumscribed the public figure category as the Court has been aware that classifying a person as a public figure has a profound impact on that individual's ability to receive compensation for reputational harm.
[C] Private Persons
The current state of the law in the private plaintiff context requires that the subject matter of the defamation be analyzed to discern whether it deals with matters of public concern or matters of private concern.
[1] Public Concern
The Supreme Court's decision of Gertz v. Robert Welch, Inc., 418 U.S. 323 (1974), lays out the complex rules in the private person/public concern context. The Court determined that states could permit private plaintiffs to recover damages for "actual injury," defined as proven "impairment of reputation and standing in the community, personal humiliation, and mental anguish and suffering," under any standard other than strict liability. The Court held that the tougher fault standard of actual malice was appropriate when the plaintiff sought either presumed damages or punitive damages.
[2] Private Concern
The exact standard remains uncertain because the Court has yet to clarify its decision in Dun & Bradstreet v. Greenmoss, Inc., 472 U.S. 749 (1985). In Dun & Bradstreet, the plurality held that the Constitution does not require that a private plaintiff suing in a case involving a matter of private concern prove actual malice to recover presumed and punitive damages.
[D] Actual Malice
The fault standard of actual malice requires the plaintiff to prove that either the defendant knew of the falsity or was reckless as to truth or falsity. A plaintiff must prove that the defendant was at least reckless, a standard compelling proof that the defendant had "in fact entertained serious doubts as to the truth of his publication."
lexisnexis.com
The fact is that lies told about public officials, if they meet that standard, are legally actionable.
And you lie again. Or are grossly ignorant. Take your pick. |
