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The most common used to be a civil suit for defamation, which in the English common law tradition was a tort. The common law of libel dates to the early 17th century and, unlike most English law, is reverse onus , meaning that once someone alleges a statement is libelous, the burden is on the defendant to prove that it is not.
The case of Park v. Hill 380 F. Supp. 2d 1002 (N. D. Iowa 2005) set the basic rules of Iowa about criminal defamation/libel, defining what it is, while the case of State v. Heacock 76 N. W. 654 (Iowa 1898) set the Iowan rules about public persecution for the crime. Therefore, it exists based on case law).
The consequence is that strict liability for defamation is unconstitutional in the United States; the plaintiff must be able to show that the defendant acted negligently or with an even higher level of mens rea. In many other common law countries, strict liability for defamation is still the rule.
(Under the law prior to this decision any false statement could, if found to be defamatory, be grounds for damages.) Instead it raises the question of whether factual errors were made in good faith. "Actual malice" means then that the defendant intentionally made false statements of alleged facts, or recklessly failed to verify alleged facts ...
Neutral reportage is a common law defense against libel and defamation lawsuits usually involving the media republishing unproven accusations about public figures. [1] It is a limited exception to the common law rule that one who repeats a defamatory statement is just as guilty as the first person who published it.
When a case has connection to more than just a single state, the forum state's choice of law principles generally guide the selection of what place's law will apply. Parties to a contract may seek to prevent forum shopping by inserting a forum selection clause or a choice of law clause in their contract. Such clauses are now generally enforced ...
In United States defamation law, actual malice is a legal requirement imposed upon public officials or public figures when they file suit for libel (defamatory printed communications). Compared to other individuals who are less well known to the general public, public officials and public figures are held to a higher standard for what they must ...
Although federal courts often hear tort cases arising out of common law or state statutes, there are relatively few tort claims that arise exclusively as a result of federal law. The most common federal tort claim is the 42 U.S.C. § 1983 remedy for violation of one's civil rights under color of federal or state law, which can be used to sue ...