As most readers are probably aware, an attorney has threatened legal action against some of the journalists and online commenters who vilified a group of Covington High School students after a misleadingly edited video was planted on Twitter by an unidentified troll. In a recent blogpost, Eugene Volokh discusses the legal hurdles the boys and their legal team would have to surmount in order to win a libel action against the boys’ attackers.
Volokh offers a number of “general thoughts” under four headings: “Fact vs. opinion”; “Speaker’s mental state”; “Libel per se?”; and “Knowledge/negligence as of when?” If you’re interested in the legal ramification of this media frenzy, it’s well worth reading.
