Opinion ID: 780589
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Truth as a Defense

Text: 82 In addition to the actual malice standard, Garrison requires that in a criminal libel prosecution for a statement concerning a public official, truth must be a complete defense. Section 4102 does permit an unqualified affirmative defense of truth, but it does so only if the victim is a public officer and the charge made refers to the performance of his duties. Otherwise, truth is only a defense if the defendant had good intention and justifiable ends. The section 4102 defense of truth is not broad enough to encompass all constitutionally protected statements. This affirmative defense is constitutionally deficient. 83 First, section 4102 only applies to statements about public officials in the performance of official duties. Under Garrison, the public officials exception does not extend only to the discharge of official duties, but to anything which might touch on an official's fitness for office, including dishonesty, malfeasance, or improper motivation. 379 U.S. at 77, 85 S.Ct. 209. The affirmative defense under section 4102 is not broad enough to cover all such statements concerning public officials. And the default provision — that the defendant may otherwise prove truth as a defense only by showing good intentions and justifiable ends — does not cure the problem; it exacerbates it. 84 The statutory affirmative defense also does not protect all public figures, only public officers. Garrison rejected any notion that the allegedly libelous utterance must have been published with good motives and for justifiable ends, as applied to public officials. 379 U.S. at 70-73, 85 S.Ct. 209. Later rulings expanded the New York Times standard to statements regarding public figures. See Gertz, 418 U.S. at 335, 94 S.Ct. 2997. Thus, truth must be a complete defense for all public figures, not merely public officials. Section 4102 does not provide such protection for statements involving public figures who are not officials. For these reasons, section 4102 is unconstitutional. 9 85