Legal Question in Technology Law in California
I am trying to pull together information from the public in support of a request for a grand jury investigation of a government social services agency. I set up a website for this purpose and requested that the public submit their own stories/concerns and run-ins with employees of this agency. I would like to request that when people submit details of an issue, they include the names of the specific county employees involved. These are people that work in public service, and have a great deal of power over individuals without apparent accountability or oversight - I think that getting names of problem people out is important and may encourage others who have had issues with those agents to come forward as well. However, someone told me I could be sued for posting names. Is that true?
2 Answers from Attorneys
Anybody can sue anybody for anything. It's easy to guess the agency you're talking about, and my solution would be a ballot initiative. If you know any Angels with a couple of milllion to spare, give a holler.
Yes, you could be sued, and even if you won, you'd endure defense costs.
The chances of a successful suit for just listing a name seem rather slim, and the chance of success by the plaintiff would increase in proportion to the allegations made against that person or the persons on your list of names. Libelous allegations include those where the accusations are not direct but made with an innuendo.
Truth is a defense to charges of defamation, but it doesn't pay your defense costs. There is, however, another concept worth mentioning--the anti-SLAPP law, standing for "strategic lawsuit against public participation" under which some citizens like yourself are getting their defense costs paid when sued for exercising free-speech rights on matters of significant public interest.
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