Calumnious News Reporting: Defamatory Law Is More Than Sticks and Stones for Civic-Duty Participants

Authors

Victoria C. Duke, Indiana Tech Law School

Abstract

I. Introduction

II. Civic-Duty Participants Caught in the Crossroads

III. An Overview of the Precedent That Created the Criterion of Constitutional Protection for Defamatory Speech ... A. The Rubric of Categories in Which Defamed Plaintiffs Are Classified ... 1. Public Officials ... 2. Public Figures ... 3. Private Persons ... B. The Modification of the Rubric of Classifications

IV. The Appropriate Evaluation of Defamatory Redress for Civic-Duty Participants ... A. Civic-Duty Participants Are Limited by the Constraints of the Entity with Which They Are Involved ... 1. Routine Congressional Committee Meetings/Hearings ... 2. The Jury System ... 3. Inconsequential Political Engagement … B. Civic-Duty Participants Are Not Public Figures ... 1. Routine Congressional Meetings/Hearings ... 2. Jury Service ... 3. Inconsequential Political Engagement ... C. Civic-Duty Participants Are Private Individuals ... 1. Routine Congressional Meetings/Hearings ... 2. Jury Service ... 3. Inconsequential Political Engagement

V. Conclusion

Recommended Citation

Victoria C. Duke, Calumnious News Reporting: Defamatory Law Is More Than Sticks and Stones for Civic-Duty Participants, 93 Neb. L. Rev. 690 (2014)
Available at: https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/nlr/vol93/iss3/5