Legal Question in Constitutional Law in Louisiana

Libel suit & how it works?

Can someone be sued,thru a libel suit,for a personal opinion [written in a blog]? If so how does ''fair comment'' play into this? Also the person did not suffer money loss nor personal harm,except embarassment,from said blog?


Asked on 11/02/08, 12:06 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Andrew Casanave Andrew M. Casanave

Re: Libel suit & how it works?

Someone can be sued for anything. The real question is can the plaintiff (the person filing suit) win?

An opinion (eg. "I think X is stupid.") cannot be defamatory because an opinion is presumptively true. The person is only saying what they think/feel/believe. "Stupid" might always be considered an opinion.

On the other hand, if you said "X is a child molester," (or something similarly clear & defamatory) which is a clear, defamatory statement, you have to be able to prove it is true or for some other reason that statement is protected.

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Answered on 11/02/08, 3:15 pm


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