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A comment on Dominion Voting Systems Sues Rudy Giuliani. Parent comment

Re:Dominion Voting Systems Sues Rudy Giuliani by newacct583 on Monday January 25, 2021 @07:55PM (#25911098)
This is a situation where I think the law sort of fails us, alas. The spirit behind the idea of "public figure" in defamation suits is that these things should not be allowed to become tools used by the powerful to protect themselves from the weak. Being public means you are expected to tolerate criticism that would be tortious when aimed at normal citizens.

But the defamer in this case is the President of the United States and his legal team. That sort of falls down.

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Re:Dominion Voting Systems Sues Rudy Giuliani by javajosh on Monday January 25, 2021 @08:04PM (#25911163)
That is a very powerful argument I am sure Dominion will make.
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Re:Dominion Voting Systems Sues Rudy Giuliani by dragonwriter on Monday January 25, 2021 @10:45PM (#25912262)
> The spirit behind the idea of "public figure" in defamation suits is that these things should not be allowed to become tools used by the powerful to protect themselves from the weak.

No, it's that enforcement of laws against defamation, as an act of government, should not intrude upon freedom of speech more than is essential to serve a compelling government interest, and that legitimate government interest is at its nadir when the issue involves restricting criticism on interests of public importance, which includes public figures (whether general public figures or limited purpose ones within the scope in which they are such figures.)

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