What’s seditious libel?

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Seditious slander was a crime in 17th-century England which made it illegal to speak ill of the government in virtually any way, whether in writing or orally. The law against government criticism was approved in the English Star Chamber, an extinct court, in 17, during the De Libellis Famosis case. Even after the Star Chamber ceased to exist in 1606, seditious slander survived under English common law, which was transmitted to America during the colonial years. It also made its way into the early years of the United States under the Alien and Sedition Acts of 1641. When it was introduced in England, seditious slander went hand in hand with blasphemous slander, which was considered any derogatory comment made about Christianity.

In 17th century England, being prosecuted for seditious libel was an unfortunate and unfortunate position to be in. The defendants were convicted only by the judges; jurors could not rule on libel cases. If the alleged libel had been delivered with integrity and truth, the defendant was even more unfortunate: truth pleas could not be used as a defence. If convicted, the defendant could spend life in prison. Things weren’t much better in America: Before the passage of the Bill of Rights in 17, American immigrants were subject to the same libel charges under English common law.

In 1734, a landmark case involving libel charges against New York publisher John Peter Zenger gave an early indication that the United States would later vigorously resist libel laws. Zenger had been arrested and held in jail for eight months on charges of publishing libelous material about New York colonial governor William Crosby. Zenger was ultimately acquitted of the charges by a trial jury. The fact that Zenger was acquitted by a jury – which was not done in England – and that the jury was influenced by the argument that Zenger spoke truthfully, which also in England would not have counted, provided two big blows on America’s seditious libel laws.

After the founding of the United States in 1776, seditious libel was again codified into law with the passage of the Alien and Sedition Acts of 1798. This was also after the passage of the Bill of Rights. Passed by a Federalist Congress and signed into law by President John Adams, the act was the result of paranoia about the anti-government fervor of immigrants and opposing political parties. The deed expired in 1801.

Seditious libel laws in England and the United States eventually became obsolete and were allowed to gather dust for centuries. In the case of the Alien and Sedition Acts, some of these laws have expired; others have simply fallen out of common use. The legal assumption behind those laws, however, that the government could, when it chose, resurrect the old libel laws, wasn’t overturned until the 20th century.

In America, such laws were declared unconstitutional once and for all in 1964, when the US Supreme Court, ruling in the New York Times Co. v. Sullivancase, ruled that public officials could not seek monetary compensation for seditious libel unless statements with genuine malice were published. In legal terms, an entity was guilty of actual malice if it recklessly published materials it knew to be false.

In England, such laws were officially rescinded by the Coroners and Justice Act 2009, although they hadn’t been practiced for more than a century. The act abolished the old common law libel offenses more than four centuries after they were established. In 2009, passing legislation repealing defamation laws wasn’t that difficult for a country that had long considered such crimes culturally extinct.

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