Libel Schimibel.

I received a comment yesterday from a reader who, to say the least, was none too happy with my post about Josh Kobdish. In case you missed it, this is what my concerned reader had to say:

You should rethink this little article. This little blog can/will get you sued for libel and/or defamation of character. A lawsuit you would lose since Kobdish has not been convicted of any charges yet your blog states the allegations as if they are facts. At this point, the charges are allegations and not facts. Even if he is later convicted of doing everything he has been charged with, YOU are NOT off the hook. You can still be sued.Considering Kobdish has pleaded "not guilty," you had either revise this article to point out that everything in it regarding Kobdish is alleged, or simply delete it if you cannot figure out how to write it without committing libel and defamation of character.

My initial reaction to this comment was, dude – chill! As most of you already know, a good portion of my blog is devoted to me reading the news and then retelling it in my own words. This often does not sit well with people, and I’ve accepted that. It goes with the territory. Nonetheless, I thought I would look into the whole issue of libel and see if maybe I wasn’t really skating on thin ice. I found several blog posts discussing the issue, including one where a dude really did receive legal notice to remove his post or be sued.

The most interesting and most comprehensive post I found was this one, by Ratcliffblog.
After reading what Mitch had to say, I’m not too terribly worried. After all, they would be hard pressed to convince a judge that my “little blog” (his words) can cause anyone’s reputation much damage (except perhaps my own, of course.) I also found a couple of other interesting posts regarding The Cost of Free Speech and Letting the Libel Law Die.

From what I can gather my readers comment that, “Even if he is later convicted of doing everything he has been charged with, YOU are NOT off the hook. You can still be sued” is incorrect. All I said in my post was that he had been arrested and then described the alleged charges. Obviously he has have not been convicted yet. Duh!

I try to make a point of not offending people, and when it does happen, I am usually apologetic. But I can’t help but get my hackles up from time to time when people seem to want to threaten or attack me.

I would love to hear what you all think.