Re:Alex Jones to pay $965M to Sandy Hook victims
by philistine on Wednesday October 12, 2022 @05:14PM
(#33183366)
I much prefer the civil code.
Re:Alex Jones to pay $965M to Sandy Hook victims
by coyotespike on Wednesday October 12, 2022 @07:10PM
(#33185002)
I don't know much about it, but many great countries agree with you in practice and so it must have a lot going for it. Still, I like the bottom-up approach the common law provides.
Re:Alex Jones to pay $965M to Sandy Hook victims
by Iwan-Zotow on Wednesday October 12, 2022 @07:06PM
(#33184963)
> an important part of Western traditions.
anglo traditions
Lots of (western) countries doesn't have anything comparable
Re:Alex Jones to pay $965M to Sandy Hook victims
by coyotespike on Wednesday October 12, 2022 @07:07PM
(#33184974)
You are completely right! I was going to say it's mainly the Commonwealth and the US, but there are more common-law countries than I would have thought: https://worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/common-la...
The common law has been developing for hundreds of years. It is an extraordinary institution and an important part of Western traditions.
At its best, the common law has allowed a finely balanced rule to develop - not in a vacuum, but incrementally and iteratively proven in thousands of real-world cases.
Some of the best minds of our civilizations have tussled over these guidelines, and the more lawsuits that have occurred, the better-developed that area of law, in general.
The United States' approach to the common law of libel and defamation has been strongly shaped by the First Amendment - and that Amendment was not nearly as strong a century ago, remember. It has been accorded more respect and power over time, and that is a wonderful thing.
All of this to say: you're ignoring the entire edifice of law concerning free speech, libel, and defamation. The balance of free speech vs libel and defamation is a defining feature of the success of our society, not its failure.