ART. I, SECTION 5. FREEDOM OF SPEECH
April 8, 2008 – 12:41 amAll persons may speak, write and publish freely, being responsible for the abuse of that liberty. In trials for libel, both civil and criminal, the truth, when published with good motives and for justifiable ends, shall be a sufficient defense.
2 Responses to “ART. I, SECTION 5. FREEDOM OF SPEECH”
Why shouldn’t truth be an absolute defense? What would be the purpose of the qualifiers “good motives” or “justifiable ends”?
By Ralf Seiffe on Apr 17, 2008
This is another case where I repeated what was in the old constitution, but my first thought is what about say, publishing “voyeurism”. If porn is speech and truth is a defense, how could you prevent someone from publishing involuntarily taken nude pictures? Maybe consent, but then that’s an addition and makes truth not an absolute defense.
It’s a good thought, will think about it more. I’m thinking particularly the libel suit against a paper from a justice in this state and would specifically want to parse that to see if additional protections are needed.
By John Bambenek on Apr 22, 2008