From Deseret News archives:
Repeal criminal libel law
It would, admittedly, appear self-serving for a newspaper to advocate repealing a libel law. Our concern is on several levels, however.
First, the law does not pass constitutional muster. Libel is not the sole domain of traditional media organizations. The last Utahn prosecuted for criminal libel was a Milford High School student who maligned classmates and faculty members on a Web site. The teen was charged under an 1875 law — enacted while Utah was a territory. In essence, the law said a person is guilty of libel if he "intentionally and with a malicious intent" publishes a statement impugning a person's honesty, integrity, virtue or reputation.
However, the U.S. Supreme Court in 1964 held that to hold the statement defamatory, it must be false and the person making it must know it's false or have a "reckless disregard" for whether it's true or not. The high court ruling rendered Utah's law unconstitutional, the state Supreme Court ruled.
Sen. Scott McCoy, D-Salt Lake, plans to introduce a bill in the 2006 Legislature to repeal Utah's current criminal slander and libel law, which he describes as "unconstitutional, antiquated and outdated." He is right, and the Utah Legislature should move to eliminate this defective law.
Second, absent a criminal statute, Utahns still have the option of a civil libel action. That's how the Milford High case eventually played out. The high school principal sued the student and the case was settled. Seemingly, a civil action is a more appropriate remedy in these cases than criminalizing speech.
Beyond that, some media lawyers maintain that criminal libel and defamation laws have been abused, sometimes by prosecutors who have political motivations to file such charges.
From a practical standpoint, any law found unconstitutional should be stricken from the books. In fact, 33 states have repealed their criminal libel and defamation laws. It's time for Utah to do likewise.
