PR Watch, vol.
British laws place the burden of proof on defendants rather than plaintiffs.
In the McLibel trial, this meant that McDonalds did not have to prove that the defendants had deliberately circulated false information. Instead, the defendants carried the burden of proving that what they said was true. Under U.S. law, of course, the outcome of a libel trial would not revolve around the question of whether the judge shares the opinions of the people who are being sued. The fundamental issue in this country is whether people have the right to hold different opinions, and to express and debate those differences freely before the court of public opinion. McDonald's and Burger King are two of the many U.S. corporations using lethal poisons to destroy vast areas of Central American rainforest to create grazing pastures for cattle to be sent back to the States as burgers and pet food, and to provide fat-food packaging materials.