Working Up

by Dwayne Phillips

It may come as a surprise to many, but laws against libel and slander still exist.

I write this five days before the 2015 Super Bowl. The big topic of conversation in the football world is about under-inflated footballs (yes, western civilization has come to this).

What surprises me (at least a little) are the comments from the commentators on television, radio, and in writing on the Internet.

Bill Belichick is lying. Bill Belichick is a liar.

Tom Brady is lying. Tom Brady is a liar.

These come from former players employed to comment from their experience. These also come from “experienced journalists.”

This blog post is not about Belichick and Brady. This blog post is not about football. This blog post is about libel and slander.

libel: a published false statement that is damaging to a person’s reputation; a written defamation. (Google)

slander: the action or crime of making a false spoken statement damaging to a person’s reputation. (Google)

Libel and slander are still crimes. The laws against them did not go away at the turn of the 21st century. It seems that some persons at the media outlets would remind everyone else of this.