Posted by Atticus on December 28, 2004, at 10:08:56
In reply to Lou's request to Dr. Hsiung-, posted by Lou Pilder on December 28, 2004, at 8:52:39
Lou,
>>I am requesting that you examine the legal aspect of your allowing statements that IMO have the potential to arrouse antisemitic feelings or anti-anyother feelings,to remain on the board after I have requested that they be deleted or addressed by you .
>>In particular, but not limited to, those statements that have the potential IMO for one to think that the statement is saying in some way that the jews killed Christ or that jews are loathsome, filthy or full of abominations, or the posting of what is called "replacement theology" .C'mon. I already gave you a mini-seminar on American libel laws. And they boil down to simply whether a statement about someone is true or false, and whether a false statement is likely due to actual malice (deliberating printing something the publisher knows is false or "reckless disregard for the truth). The average person who feels defamed has to prove both "negligence" AND that the statement held he/she "up to public ridicule and contempt."
However, in your second paragraph, you are offering pure conjecture as to how a statement would be interpreted. Such statements are called "statements susceptible to two (or more) meanings," and NO ONE has ever won a libel case based such statements in American courts. NOT EVER. So in American legal terms (and PB does originate in America), seeking legal redress here, as you intimate, would be time-consuming and expensive and I am 100% sure you would lose. In fact, the case would likely be dismissed as without merit before it even got on the court docket.
Sorry if that's disappointing, but that's just the way First Amendment law is written in this country.
Simply put, you have no possibility of legal remedy here. You can appeal to Dr. Bob, Chief Justice of this site, to get his ruling, but that's about all you can do. Atticus
poster:Atticus
thread:434952
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/admin/20041218/msgs/434973.html