Article Abstract:
The California Court of Appeals in San Francisco ruled in Lafayette Morehouse, Inc. v. Chronicle Publishing Co. that the libel suit filed by More University and others against the San Francisco Chronicle was properly dismissed under the state's strategic lawsuits against public participation laws. Articles stated that the alternative college focused on sensuality and that the founders had been the subject of an LSD prosecution. The court found More's libel claims unconvincing because course materials appeared to confirm all the information in the Chronicle articles.
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Article Abstract:
The South Carolina Supreme Court ruled in Peeler v. Spartan Radiocasting, Inc. that a state senator alleging defamation failed to prove actual malice with clear and convincing evidence. A jury granted the senator $675,000 in damages for reports that he may have been involved in forging signatures on an opponent's petition to be placed on the ballot. The Court found that as a public figure the senator had to prove actual malice on the part of the reporter and he failed to do so.
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Article Abstract:
The Montana Supreme Court ruled in Montana v. Helfrich that a state criminal defamation statute that did not provide for truth as an absolute defense was unconstitutionally overbroad. Under the statute, criminal defamation defendants could rebut charged by proving that the statements were true and that they were made with good motives. Established defamation precedent, both in the civil and criminal context, requires that no showing needs to be made other than truth.
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