One last Harris comment.....
08-22-2005, 11:13 PM
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One last Harris comment.....
Not sure if he is this kind of man, but some of the comments made on the forum certainly drift into the slander/libel direction.
Someone posted a thread on the Vette forum where attorneys got involved when the "he is an f'in thief" posts came out on a sponsor/shop.
Would hate anyone to end up with legal bills due to some off the cuff flaming.
Just a thought.
Derogatory?
In most systems, statements need not be derogatory in themselves to be defamatory; it is generally enough that they portray the claimant in a false light - for example, by claiming that a prominent dentist is masquerading as a heart specialist, or that a member of one political party is actually a closet supporter of another.
[edit]
Truth
In many, though not all, legal systems, factual statements must be false to be defamatory. Proving statements to be true is often the best defense against a prosecution for libel. Statements of opinion which cannot be proven true or false will likely need to apply some other kind of defense.
In some systems, however, truth alone is not a defense. It is also necessary in these cases to show that there is a well founded public interest in the specific information being widely known, and this may be the case even for public figures.
Apparent reversal of benefit of the doubt
In most legal systems the courts give the benefit of the doubt to the person who is being tried. Depending on the applicable burden of proof, he or she is presumed to be innocent until the prosecution can prove beyond a reasonable doubt, or to the balance of probabilities, that this is not the case.
Once the offended party meets the burden of proof that the publisher made a defamatory statement, the untruth of that statement is presumed, so that the burden of proving it was true and/or in the public interest falls onto the publisher of the statement.
This prevents the victim from being essentially "tried" in the media or anywhere else outside a legal system. The victim remains innocent and the burden of proof properly is shifted to the publisher of the statement (the accuser). Without this protection, the victim of a defamatory statement would have to prove his innocence in order to prevail. With this protection, the notion of "innocent until proven guilty" partially is extended to anyone accused outside the legal system.
Someone posted a thread on the Vette forum where attorneys got involved when the "he is an f'in thief" posts came out on a sponsor/shop.
Would hate anyone to end up with legal bills due to some off the cuff flaming.
Just a thought.
Derogatory?
In most systems, statements need not be derogatory in themselves to be defamatory; it is generally enough that they portray the claimant in a false light - for example, by claiming that a prominent dentist is masquerading as a heart specialist, or that a member of one political party is actually a closet supporter of another.
[edit]
Truth
In many, though not all, legal systems, factual statements must be false to be defamatory. Proving statements to be true is often the best defense against a prosecution for libel. Statements of opinion which cannot be proven true or false will likely need to apply some other kind of defense.
In some systems, however, truth alone is not a defense. It is also necessary in these cases to show that there is a well founded public interest in the specific information being widely known, and this may be the case even for public figures.
Apparent reversal of benefit of the doubt
In most legal systems the courts give the benefit of the doubt to the person who is being tried. Depending on the applicable burden of proof, he or she is presumed to be innocent until the prosecution can prove beyond a reasonable doubt, or to the balance of probabilities, that this is not the case.
Once the offended party meets the burden of proof that the publisher made a defamatory statement, the untruth of that statement is presumed, so that the burden of proving it was true and/or in the public interest falls onto the publisher of the statement.
This prevents the victim from being essentially "tried" in the media or anywhere else outside a legal system. The victim remains innocent and the burden of proof properly is shifted to the publisher of the statement (the accuser). Without this protection, the victim of a defamatory statement would have to prove his innocence in order to prevail. With this protection, the notion of "innocent until proven guilty" partially is extended to anyone accused outside the legal system.
Last edited by Jakpro1; 08-22-2005 at 11:17 PM.
