The Volokh Conspiracy

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"Actions of Slander, Founded on Trifling Causes, to Gratify a Petulant and Quarrelsome Disposition"

|The Volokh Conspiracy |


From Judge Edward Shippen in Rue v. Mitchell (Pa. Ct. Com. Pl. Phila. County 1790):

Generally speaking, indeed, actions of slander, founded on trifling causes, to gratify a petulant and quarrelsome disposition, will not be encouraged by the court; but when the reputation, trade, or profession, of a citizen it really affected, for the sake of doing justice to the dearest interests of individuals, as well as for the sake of preserving public order, and tranquillity, every appeal to the tribunals of our country ought to be liberally sustained.

Eugene Volokh is the Thomas M. Siebel Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution at Stanford, and the Gary T. Schwartz Distinguished Professor of Law Emeritus and Distinguished Research Professor at UCLA School of Law. Naturally, his posts here (like the opinions of the other bloggers) are his own, and not endorsed by any institution.