This episode of the Curious Lawyer takes you on an odyssey through the country’s history with jail-for-speech in criminal libel prosecutions.
This episode of The Curious Lawyer takes you on an odyssey through the country’s history with jail-for-speech cases in criminal libel prosecutions. In this fascinating installment of the series, host Peter Afrasiabi guides you on an intriguing journey through pre- and post-Sedition Act prosecutions, as well as modern 20th- and 21st-century decisions on criminal libel.
At key moments, we listen to Supreme Court oral arguments spanning decades, addressing critical questions: Can you be punished criminally for libeling someone in the 21st century? What is the current legal standard? And if the seminal New York Times v. Sullivan “actual malice” decision is ever reversed, as Justice Thomas has long argued, what would that mean for criminal libel laws?
Along the way, we explore state laws that criminalize questioning a woman’s chastity, the imprisonment of labor leader Harry Bridges during the Korean War for speaking against the war effort, and even the criminal conviction of famed JFK conspiracy theory prosecutor Jim Garrison for libelous statements about judges in his community. This episode offers a fun, entertaining, and educational look at the evolving landscape of criminal libel law.
Legal Technology & Education
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Founding Partner at One, LLP
Peter Afrasiabi is a founding partner at One LLP and focuses his practice on copyright, patent, trademark, and entertainment litigation. In addition, Peter is a professor and the Director of the Appellate Clinic at the University of California, Irvine School of Law. Peter graduated from the University of California, Los Angeles and the University of Southern California Gould School of Law.
