Libel and Slander
Libel and Slander, in law, false statements that tend to harm the reputation of a person and expose him or her to public hatred, contempt, or ridicule, or to criminal prosecution. Libel and slander are sometimes called defamation. A defamatory statement is libel when it is in writing, signs, or pictures. It is slander when it is spoken. The victim of libel or slander has grounds to sue only when the defamation is communicated to a third person. Committing libel or slander is a tort rather than a crime, except in special circumstances involving sedition.
Libel is considered more serious than slander, and greater damages may be awarded for it, because it has a potentially larger audience. Because of the audience size, defamatory statements on radio or television, even though spoken, are usually judged to be libel rather than slander.
Traditionally, American courts have ruled that freedom of the press as guaranteed in the First Amendment does not give news publications protection from a libel judgment. In 1964, however, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that a false statement about a public official that appears in a news report is not libelous unless printed with “actual malice.” This provision was extended to “public figures” in 1967.
In 1971 the court applied the actual-malice restriction to reports about any person involved in an issue of great public interest, but in 1974 it reversed itself, in ruling that defamation of a private citizen committed through negligence is libelous if actual harm is done to the person. In such instance, however, only compensatory, rather than punitive, damages may be awarded.