Existing libel laws protect the right to speak freely – for all of us

  There is a lot of “libel talk” — and filing of mega-million-dollar lawsuits — in the air, and as long as such stays there, the people’s ability to openly criticize public officials is safe.

  Advocates of free speech, free press, and holding government publicly accountable — liberals and conservatives alike — need to keep cautious eyes on new, perhaps coordinated, efforts to chill critics and water down legal protections regarding public comments about officials and famous individuals. In the space of a few weeks:

Gene Policinski: Memo to Donald Trump

  Memo to Donald Trump: If you find it tough debating opponents named Cruz, Rubio, Kasich and Carson, just wait until you come up against Madison, Jefferson and their crew.

  Voters in great numbers certainly approve of your promise to “make America great again.” Well, James Madison, Thomas Jefferson and the other Founders did all that the first time around, at the risk of their lives not primary votes – and in the process made United States the beacon of liberty for the entire world that it remains today.

  The founders also enacted a Bill of Rights, with a First Amendment that protects a free press to help keep it that way by serving as a watchdog on government – and on those who would serve in it.

Ken Paulson: When online reviews lead to lawsuits

  When a Minnesota man felt his family was treated shabbily by a neurologist, he made sure the world knew about it.

  Dennis Laurion posted caustic reviews of Minnesota neurologist David McKee, saying he was insensitive to his father’s needs and claiming that a nurse called the doctor “a real tool.” This angered McKee, who offered his own prescription: a libel suit.

Ken Paulson: Online anonymity no sure thing in libel cases

  Those who anonymously damage the reputations of others on the Internet may have a rude awakening. They’re not as anonymous as they believe. We’ve seen a number of cases in recent months in which judges have upheld subpoenas that give libel-suit plaintiffs the identities of those who have been posting ugly things about them:

-In July, a federal district judge in Idaho ruled that the Spokesman Review in Spokane, Wash., would have to turn over the name of an anonymous commenter who speculated that $10,000 apparently missing from a political committee might be stuffed inside the chairwoman’s blouse.