[EL] damages awarded for defamatory campaign ad

[Ben Sheffner]

A 1996 California case, *Beilenson v. Superior
Court<http://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=12123497566261335798&q=beilenson+slapp&hl=en&as_sdt=2,5>
*, 44 Cal.App.4th 944 (1996), includes the following passage:* *

Sybert [the plaintiff, an unsuccessful Congressional candidate] has not
cited a single case in which a candidate has recovered damages for
defamatory statements arising during the course of a campaign. In the
solitary case that we found, the defamatory statements went well beyond the
pale of what is protected under the First Amendment. (*Goldwater* v. *
Ginzburg* (2d Cir.1969) 414 F.2d
324<http://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=9399741338389592355&q=beilenson+slapp&hl=en&as_sdt=2,5>
[a
magazine knowingly and falsely printed that a presidential candidate
suffered from a serious mental illness].)

The overwhelming weight of authority is that campaign rhetoric is protected
speech and, as such, recovery by a candidate is highly unusual. (*Monitor
Patriot Co.* v. *Roy, supra,* 401 U.S. 265 [28 L.Ed.2d
35]<http://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=2024767074661300700&q=beilenson+slapp&hl=en&as_sdt=2,5>
; *Desert Sun Publishing* v. *Superior Court, supra,* 97 Cal. App.3d at p.
51<http://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=13062437310432591227&q=beilenson+slapp&hl=en&as_sdt=2,5>
;*Thomson Newspaper Pub., Inc.* v. *Coody* (1995) 320 Ark. 455, 465 [896
S.W.2d 897, 903]<http://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=1865389065206023822&q=beilenson+slapp&hl=en&as_sdt=2,5>
; *Vail*v. *The Plain Dealer Publishing Co.* (1995) 72 Ohio St.3d 279
[649 <http://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=17111714742602653740&q=beilenson+slapp&hl=en&as_sdt=2,5>N.E.2d
182]<http://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=17111714742602653740&q=beilenson+slapp&hl=en&as_sdt=2,5>
; *Carr* v.*Brasher* (Tex. 1989) 776 S.W.2d
567<http://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=6441689462785037926&q=beilenson+slapp&hl=en&as_sdt=2,5>
; *Valento* v. *Ulrich* (Minn. 1987) 402 N.W.2d 809,
813<http://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=275660213657205701&q=beilenson+slapp&hl=en&as_sdt=2,5>
;*Hein* v. *Lacy, supra,* 228 Kan. 249 [616 P.2d
277]<http://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=9184067443201765287&q=beilenson+slapp&hl=en&as_sdt=2,5>
; *Clark* v. *Allen* (1964) 415 Pa. 484, 488 [204 A.2d 42,
44]<http://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=1716366769599692137&q=beilenson+slapp&hl=en&as_sdt=2,5>
.)



On Mon, Apr 9, 2012 at 7:27 AM, Kieran Williams
<kierandwilliams at yahoo.com>wrote:

> A jury has awarded a candidate for the Iowa State Senate $231,000 in
> damages for allegations made by his 2010 opponent in a 30-second attack ad;
> details are here<http://www.bleedingheartland.com/diary/5432/gop-state-senator-wins-defamation-case-over-2010-ad>.
> Note that the plaintiff who brought the suit did win the race, albeit very
> narrowly. Does anyone know of similar recent cases, in particular of any
> that did not get overturned? (I am not involved in this case in any way -
> I'm just interested in the boundaries of protected campaign speech.)
>
> Kieran Williams
> Drake University
> Des Moines, IA  50311
>
> _______________________________________________
> Law-election mailing list
> Law-election at department-lists.uci.edu
> http://department-lists.uci.edu/mailman/listinfo/law-election
>
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