LIBEL, SLANDER, AND SYMBOLIC SPEECH

Libel - The publication of false or malicious statements that damage someone's reputation

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• Not protected by the constitution
• Slander refers to spoken defamation
• Libel is written defamation

New York Times v. Sullivan

• Established guidelines for determining what is libel
• statements are only libelous if made with reckless disregard for the truth
• makes it really hard to win a libel lawsuit
• it is easier for private citizens to win a libel case

Symbolic Speech - Nonverbal communcatoins, such as burning a flag or wearing an armband. The Supreme Court has accorded some symbolic speech protection under the First Amendment

Texas V. Johnson - A 1989 case in which the Supreme Court struck down a law banning the burning of the American flag on the founds that such action was symbolic speech protected by the First Amendment