A troubling ruling in Boston about free speech. A court ruled that a boss libeled a former employee by emailing fellow staff that he had been fired for failing to follow expense policies.
The problem is that it was true. Usually to libel someone you have to have lied about them, spreading some rumor that is false. (And often you have to have known it was false.)
If this ruling were to become the law of the land, I could be sued for saying that the Bush administration condoned torture, because to say that defames the reputation of Mr Bush and Mr Cheney. But I should be allowed to say it - that's what free speech is for. And I'm not the one who injured their reputations - they damaged their reputations by authorizing torture. I'm just repeating the fact. And publicizing facts that powerful people don't want public is something important to protect.
To be fair, this ruling is about a private individual, not a public figure. Hopefully the appeals courts will note this distinction.
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