What are defenses to slander?
Full Question:
Answer:
You ask about perjury and slander arising from a statement under oath. Perjury is a criminal charge arising from a false material statement under oath. If the state were to prove perjury, if have to prove it by the standard of "beyond a reasonable doubt," the highest evidentiary burden of proof. If the proven perjurious statement was an element of a civil action for slander, then under the law of many jurisdictions, but perhaps not all, the plaintiff in the civil action for slander could perhaps introduce the defendant's conviction for perjury as proof of slander, for the burden of proof in a civil action is "by a preponderance of the evidence," a lesser standard than the criminal standard of "beyond a reasonable doubt."
Slander Law & Legal Definition.
Slander is the oral communication of false statements that are harmful to a person's reputation. If the statements are proven to be true, it is a complete defense to a charge of slander. Oral opinions that don't contain statements of fact don't constitute slander. Slander is an act of communication that causes someone to be shamed, ridiculed, held in contempt, lowered in the estimation of the community, or to lose employment status or earnings or otherwise suffer a damaged reputation. Slander is a subcategory of defamation.
The basic elements of a claim of slander include;
1. a defamatory statement;
2. published to third parties; and
3. which the speaker or publisher knew or should have known was false.
Slander is primarily covered under state law, but is subject to First Amendment guarantees of free speech. The scope of constitutional protection extends to statements of opinion on matters of public concern that do not contain or imply a provable factual assertion. If the slander unjustly accused you of a crime or reflected on your profession, the court or jury can assess the damages. For other types of slander you generally must prove some actual damage to be able to recover.
Slander of title is a common law tort involving a disparaging remark regarding ownership of property. It affects the owner's ability to transfer the property, resulting in a monetary loss.
Defamation and Libel Law & Legal Definition.
Defamation is an act of communication that causes someone to be shamed, ridiculed, held in contempt, lowered in the estimation of the community, or to lose employment status or earnings or otherwise suffer a damaged reputation. Such defamation is couched in 'defamatory language'. Libel and slander are subcategories of defamation. Defamation is primarily covered under state law, but is subject to First Amendment guarantees of free speech. The scope of constitutional protection extends to statements of opinion on matters of public concern that do not contain or imply a provable factual assertion.
Libel is published material meeting three conditions:
1. the material is defamatory either on its face or indirectly;
2. the defamatory statement is about someone who is identifiable to one or more persons; and,
3. the material must be distributed to someone other than the offended party; i.e. published, as distinguished from slander.
Under New Mexico law, to establish a claim of defamation by a former employer, the former employee must prove each of the following:
* The employer communicated the statement to someone other than the employee;
* The communication contained an assertion of fact;
* The communication was about the employee;
* The statement of fact was false;
* The communication was defamatory;
* The persons receiving the communication understood it to be defamatory;
* The defendant knew that the communication was false, negligently failed to recognize that it was false, or acted with malice;
* The communication proximately caused actual injury to the employee's reputation; and
* The employer abused its privilege to publish the communication.
http://definitions.uslegal.com/d/defamation-and-libel/
Freedom of Speech Law & Legal Definition.
The First Amendment of the United States Constitution protects the right to freedom of religion and freedom of expression from government interference. Although adopted as part of the Bill of Rights in 1791, most First Amendment doctrine is a result of twenty-century litigation. The Supreme Court interprets the extent of the protection afforded to these rights. The First Amendment has been interpreted by the Court as applying to the entire federal government even though it is only expressly applicable to Congress. It wasn't until 1925, in Gitlow v. New York, that the Supreme Court extended the First Amendment freedoms of speech and the press to the states through the Fourteenth Amendment due process clause.
The government may regulate obscenity. Speech defined as obscenity is not protected by the First Amendment Obscenity is speech that:
1. the average person, applying contemporary community standards, would find, taken as a whole, to appeal to the prurient interest;
2. depicts or describes in a patently offensive manner specifically defined sexual conduct; and
3. lacks as a whole serious literary, artistic, political or scientific value.
Nor is speech likely to incite violence, lawless action, or danger to the nation's security protected. Commercial speech is protected under an intermediate level of scrutiny and the government can ban deceptive or illegal commercial speech.
The right to free speech includes other methods of expression that communicates a message. As new methods of communication are developed, they have presented unique challenges to First Amendment doctrine.
You ask about privileges.A privilege would prohibit the witness from testifying; privileged statements are never heard in court because the privilege (husband and wife, priest and penitent) bars the witnesses from testifying about the privileged matter. Now the privilege must be asserted for the privilege to work; if the privileged is waived, then the statement may be admitted.
Privileges Law & Legal Definition
A privilege is an immunity from disclosure for conversation that takes places within the context of a protected relationship, such as that between an attorney and client, a husband and wife, a priest and penitent, and a doctor or therapist and patient. In some states the privilege is extended to reporters and informants. While the law may protect forced disclosure of such conversations, there are exceptions that can invalidate a privileged communication, and there are various circumstances where it can be waived, either purposefully or unintentionally.
To qualify for privileged status, communications must generally be made in a setting where there is an expectation of privacy. The privilege is lost when all or part of the communication is disclosed to a third person. The reason for the privilege is to allow people to speak with candor to spouse or professional counsellor, even though it may hinder a criminal prosecution.
Waivers Law & Legal Definition
A waiver is the intentional and voluntary giving up of something. A waiver may be made by an express statement or by conduct, such as not enforcing a right. Some activities require a waiver of liability from participants, especially in dangerous activities such as scuba diving or car racing.
Revoking a waiver is difficult, but it has been successfully done in some states. A person would generally need to prove that there was some sort of trickery, coercion or fraud involved in the presentation of the waiver. One form of coercion might be that the waiver was presented to you too late for you to back out, effectively removing your right to decide if you should sign.
For example, a landlord may impose a late fee for failure to pay rent on time. However, if the landlord has made a practice of accepting late payments without charging the fee, he may be deemed to have waived the right to collect a late fee. In a further example, when a party fails to file an answer or make a court appearance in response to being served with a complaint, they are deemed to have waived the right to dispute the claims and a default judgment may be entered in favor of the plaintiff.
Tort Law Law & Legal Definition.
Torts are civil wrongs, as opposed to criminal offenses, for which there is a legal remedy for harm caused. Tort law is law created through judges (common law) and by legislatures (statutory law). The primary aim of tort law is to provide relief for the damages incurred and deter others from committing the same harms. A successful plaintiff may recover loss of earnings capacity, pain and suffering, reasonable medical expenses, present and future expected losses, and other monetary relief for foreseeable harm suffered by the wrongful act.
Some of the types of torts include trespass, assault, battery, negligence, products liability, and intentional infliction of emotional distress. Torts fall into three general categories: intentional torts, negligent torts, and strict liability torts. Intentional torts are those wrongs which the defendant knew or should have known would occur through their actions or inactions. Some intentional torts may also be crimes, such as assault, battery, wrongful death, fraud, conversion, and trespass on property and form the basis for a lawsuit for damages by the injured party. Negligent torts occur when the defendant's failure to use reasonable care cause harm. Strict liability wrongs do not depend on the exercise of care by the defendant, but are established when a particular action causes damage.
