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A Fort Collins, Colorado man is currently facing "criminal defamation" charges for defaming his ex-girlfriend on a popular Internet site. The Larimer County district attorney used an obscure state law to bring these charges against J.P. Weichel for skewering the woman in a "Rants and Raves" forum on Craigslist. Mr. Weichel could face up to 18 months in jail if convicted.
Weichel had been disputing with his ex-girlfriend over visitation rights with the couple's daughter. Angry over the way the situation was proceeding, he used the forum to vent his frustration by posting unproven allegations against her, such as welfare fraud and child abuse. He also made unflattering comments about her sex life.
Weichel could still be found guilty, even if he could prove that everything he posted were true. That's because the Colorado statute bans the vicious exposure of a person's "natural defects." Sixteen other states have varying forms of the law on their books.
Litigation for defamation and libel should be left to civil courts, as they are more than 99% of the time. Not only is it completely ridiculous to prosecute such cases in criminal courts, but it further clogs up the dockets in courts that are already overloaded with real criminal cases.
However, the main problem with laws that call for criminal prosecution for this kind of stuff is that they represent an assault on the First Amendment. Some of these laws date back to the 17th Century and have rarely been used in the modern era. But the arrival of the Internet and the popularity of its forums, blogs, and social networking may be triggering a renewed interest in prosecuting people for speaking ill of others – especially if the targets are those who wield political power.
I fear that, if left unchecked, these laws could have a chilling effect on free speech and make people less inclined to express their views on the Internet and elsewhere. And, like most other asinine laws – such as those against sodomy between consenting adults – that still exist in many states, the punishment is generally far out of line with the "crime."
State lawmakers all over this nation should do the right thing and start removing these kinds of obsolete laws from the books. It is long overdue. Until it is done, there will always be some prosecutor with an agenda, who will abuse his or her power by enforcing laws against things that few people would have thought to be illegal.
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