Re: Case Studies

Sheldon Halpern writes:
>
> 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.
 

Rather than using a true "hypothetical" I take a clipping from the morning newspaper and ask for student comments. There was an article that described in graphic detail the alleged actions of a slum landlord. The landlord was reportedly unavailable for comment. I then used that article in my class as a basis for discussing certain problems relating to residential landlord tenant law. If those newspaper reports turned out to be false should I fear a libel action? At no time did I represent that the facts were true but neither did I include a disclaimer - I just proceeded to ask questions about the various remedies that might be available to tenants in such a situation, the economic reasons why such conditions may exist, appropriate judicial and legislative responses, etc. I also considered a range of questions focusing on legal defenses and other justications for the landlord's alleged behavior. In this situation the use is not "hyperbolic" in the way that term is normally used. Yet I still feel that I do not run the risk of being sued for libel. Is my feeling totally unjustified?

  Don Berman --  

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