{"id":6364,"date":"2016-06-15T05:29:28","date_gmt":"2016-06-15T05:29:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/maverickphilosopher.blog\/index.php\/2016\/06\/15\/libel\/"},"modified":"2016-06-15T05:29:28","modified_gmt":"2016-06-15T05:29:28","slug":"libel","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/maverickphilosopher.blog\/index.php\/2016\/06\/15\/libel\/","title":{"rendered":"Libel?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Petula Dvorak, Washington Post<\/em>, 13 June:  "Omar Mateen despised gays in the same way that Donald Trump and too many of his supporters despise Muslims."<\/span><\/p>\n

Why isn't this libel?  <\/span><\/p>\n

'Libel' as defined in the law:<\/span><\/p>\n

1) n. to publish in print (including pictures), writing or broadcast through radio, television or film, an untruth about another which will do harm to that person or his\/her reputation, by tending to bring the target into ridicule, hatred, scorn or contempt of others. Libel is the written or broadcast form of defamation, distinguished from slander, which is oral defamation. It is a tort (civil wrong) making the person or entity (like a newspaper, magazine or political organization) open to a lawsuit for damages by the person who can prove the statement about him\/her was a lie. Read more<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

Dvorak and her employers ought to be careful.  Trump is a vindictive man with the will and the wherewithal to take legal action against his enemies.  There are plenty of negative things she could say about the man that are true.<\/span><\/p>\n

Whether or not Dvorak's outrageous statement counts as libel, she has no evidence for it.  To call for a moratorium on Muslim immigration is perfectly reasonable in present circumstances and does not imply any hatred of Muslims.<\/span><\/p>\n

Analogy.  The law forbids the sale of firearms to felons.  I think this provision of the law is wise and good and conducive unto law and order.  Does that make me a hater of felons?  I don't hate them; I merely hold that it would be unwise to allow them to purchase firearms. Similarly, I don't hate Muslims, I merely hold that in present circumstances it would be wise to vet carefully immigrants from Muslim lands.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Petula Dvorak, Washington Post, 13 June:  "Omar Mateen despised gays in the same way that Donald Trump and too many of his supporters despise Muslims." Why isn't this libel?   'Libel' as defined in the law: 1) n. to publish in print (including pictures), writing or broadcast through radio, television or film, an untruth about another … Continue reading “Libel?”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26,119,6,153],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6364","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-immigration","category-islamism","category-language-matters","category-morality-and-legality"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/maverickphilosopher.blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6364","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/maverickphilosopher.blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/maverickphilosopher.blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/maverickphilosopher.blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/maverickphilosopher.blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6364"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/maverickphilosopher.blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6364\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/maverickphilosopher.blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6364"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/maverickphilosopher.blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6364"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/maverickphilosopher.blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6364"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}