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... against 'public officials' unless the slander (oral communication) or libel (printed communication)is made with actual malice with knowledge of its its falsity or with "...reckless disregard for the truth."
The Court held that the First Amendment protects the publication of all statements, even false ones, about the conduct of public officials except when statements are made with actual malice (with knowledge that they are false or in reckless disregard of their truth or falsity).
Under the Sullivan standard, for example, O'Rielly is probably NOT liable for damages arising from his puffed- up comments about alleged actions by a school district to restrict Christmas celebrations...even if the statements are later proven to be false. (And its a safe bet that his Producers deliberately conduct poor or shoddy research, just so they can later claim the smear was not uttered with "...reckless disregard for the truth.")
Interestingly though, Rush Limbaugh blatantly violated even the lax Sullivan standard this Summer when he blurted this out about Cindy Sheehan:
LIMBAUGH: I mean, Cindy Sheehan is just Bill Burkett. Her story is nothing more than forged documents. There's nothing about it that's real, including the mainstream media's glomming onto it. It's not real. It's nothing more than an attempt. It's the latest effort made by the coordinated left."
This is a classic textbook case of actionable slander for which Cindy Sheehan--who was NOT a public figure at the time-- should sue Limbaugh.
The case will be worth tens of millions in compensatory and punitive damages, and its a dead- bang winner!
So much so that on his August 17 broadcast Rush Limbaugh falsely claimed that he never made that statement-- yet another bold- faced lie.
(Aside to Cindy: PLEASE TALK TO A LAWYER ABOUT THIS! With the death (murder?) of the Fairness Doctrine in radio, we need people to aggressive challenge the bald faced lying by Rush and his ilk.)
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