Re: Case Studies

In Message Mon, 7 Feb 1994 14:28:43 -0500,   Donald Berman <berman[_at_]ccs.neu.edu> writes:

>I still feel relatively comfortable in discussing
>matters in a classroom that are reported in the media without fear of
>libel suits. Indeed, I often use hypotheticals that might arguably be
>libelous because the situations are drawn from widely reported events
>so that the atribution by name is not really relevant - everyone knows
>to whom the hypo refers.

And you may continue to feel comfortable so long as the context in which you are "repeating" the utterance is clearly hyperbolic. That is, when you use a hypothetical, indicating by your words or conduct that you are not seriously asserting something factual about the person to whom you refer, you remove the defamatory context. That is quite different from simply repeating (rebroadcasting, republishing) a reported defamatory utterance. Again, it is not the classroom setting that provides the shield but the nature of your action in setting context for the remark. The "hypothetical" is, almost by definition, not a defamatory utterance with an express or implied statement of fact; the report of a defamatory report, without more, is.

shalpern[_at_]magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu
Sheldon W. Halpern
Ohio State University College of Law
Phone (614) 291-7525 (voice); (614) 291-3554 (fax) Received on Wed Feb 09 1994 - 14:10:52 GMT