Rony Joel Sues this Paper’s Writer/Author

The only fourth branch of government found on Marco Island, this newspaper, is back being active!

Arnon Rony Joel, former Public Utilities Director for the City of Marco Island sues. CLICK HERE FOR JOELs SUIT.

Here are a couple of court decisions for those wanting to be informed on the nature of the 1^st Amendment.

U.S. Supreme Court Case:
The New York Times v. Sullivan, 376 U.S. 254, 84 S.Ct. 710, 11 L.Ed.2d. 686 (1964)
To protect "uninhibited, robust, and wide-open" debate on public issues, the Supreme Court held that no public official may recover "damages for a defamatory falsehood relating to his official conduct unless he proves that the statement was made with 'actual malice'--that is, with knowledge that it was false or with reckless disregard of whether it was false or not." The Court stated that the First and Fourteenth Amendments require that critics of official conduct have the "fair equivalent" to the immunity protection given to a public official when he is sued for defamatory speech uttered in the course of his duties.

U.S. Supreme Court Case:
Gertz v. Robert Welch, Inc., 418 U.S. 323, 94 S.Ct. 2997, 41 L.Ed.2d. 789 (1974)
The Court applied the rule in the New York Times case to public figures, finding that persons who have special prominence in society by virtue of their fame or notoriety, even if they are not public officials, must prove "actual malice" when alleging libel.

More to come.