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What Trump Needs to Know About Libel

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Constitutional restraints on congressional and presidential law making. Article I of the Constitution lays out what in high school we call, "how a bill becomes law" (in Article I, Section 7). Clearly the president cannot create "law" all on his own; he cannot "open up our libel laws," or any other laws for that matter.

Nor can Congress make any laws it pleases. Congress only has the power to legislate regarding what the Constitution grants in the 18 clauses within Article I, Section 8 -- none of which come remotely close to libel laws. The "interstate commerce clause" (Article 1, Section 8, clause 3: "The Congress shall have power . . . To regulate Commerce . . . among the several States . . ..") has been stretched pretty wide by the courts. But defamation? Originating in the English "common law" (judicial decisions) at least in the early 17th Century, if not before, libel law has been considered a matter for the U.S. states.

Hopefully, Mr. President, you'll find this analysis helpful in your quest to "open up our libel laws."

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Nicholas Johnson is best known for his tumultuous seven-year term as a Federal Communications Commission commissioner (1966-1973), while publishing How to Talk Back to Your Television Set, 400 separate FCC opinions, and appearing on a Rolling (more...)
 

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