Talk:People v. Croswell
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Political background should be addressed
[edit]The article should discuss the political background. It was after all not only about malicious slander or criminal libel theory, but about the fact that NY was the swing state in the 1800 election, which Jefferson won by a single vote in the electoral college. Croswell's The Wasp had shifted the interim elections of 1802 in favor of the Federalists, and the concern of Jefferson, Governor Clinton, and Attorney General Ambrose Spensor, was that they might lose the 1804 elections. Jefferson was also somewhat paranoid about his opposition in the press, and ordered his Governors to prosecute the opposition. The outcome of the third trial (the NY Supreme Court appeal trial in Albany) would have been quite different if Justice Livingston had not suddenly "changed his mind" and ruled against Croswell -- and been rewarded with the next available opening on the Federal Supreme Court.
Commentators for some reason exaggerate the "malice" of the newspaper editors. They were more witty than malicious, and certainly more interested in the truth than their political sponsors. The papers of the day did not make much on advertising or subscriptions, and were subsidized by political parties: they were much political operatives as journalists. Croswell, in fact, was not malicious: he told the truth about Jefferson's attacks on Washington. His argument from the beginning of the case was that "Truth is a defense against libel". Assistant Attorney General Foot replied with, "The greater the truth the greater the libel." This debate, when I express it today to students and friends, is greeted with sheer disbelief. So ingrained in our culture is the idea that truth is important in journalism, they cannot imagine a time when it was not so. This is because Croswell and Hamilton, against great odds and attacking powerful party owning all offices at the federal, state, and local level, placed this idea, an idea not found in the founding documents, firmly in the American mind. They made it so -- and so this case is important. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Harrycroswell (talk • contribs) 08:34, 24 March 2014 (UTC)
The trade
[edit]The article refers to "the trade" without identifying it. Funfree (talk) 20:32, 30 May 2014 (UTC)
English libel law
[edit]The statements in this article about English defamation law are untrue.