Truth and Privilege
Libel Law in Massachusetts and Nova Scotia, 1820-1840

A fascinating comparative history of the legal arguments and strategies used to regulate expression in Massachusetts and Nova Scotia.

Lyndsay Campbell (Author)

9781316510698, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 16 December 2021

442 pages
23.6 x 15.9 x 3.6 cm, 0.882 kg

'This is a rich and wide-ranging comparative study of the law of libel and defamation at a formative time in American and Canadian legal history, but much more besides. Campbell bridges borders - Canada and the USA but also between criminal and civil libel, elites and more ordinary people - to offer a fascinating look at how legal debates over expression shaped vital broader issues like constitutional ordering, abolitionism, religious dissent, obscenity, and privacy.' Eric H. Reiter, Concordia University, Montreal

Truth and Privilege is a comparative study that brings together legal, constitutional and social history to explore the common law's diverging paths in two kindred places committed to freedom of expression but separated by the American Revolution. Comparing Nova Scotia and Massachusetts, Lyndsay Campbell examines the development of libel law, the defences of truth and privilege, and the place of courts as fora for disputes. She contrasts courts' centrality in struggles over expression and the interpretation of individual rights in Massachusetts with concerns about defining protective boundaries for the press and individuals through institutional design in Nova Scotia. Campbell's rich analysis acts as a lens through which to understand the role of law in shaping societal change in the nineteenth century, shedding light on the essential question we still grapple with today: what should law's role be in regulating expression we perceive as harmful?

List of Tables
Foreword: The Osgoode Society for Canadian Legal History
Acknowledgements
1. Introduction
2. The Common Law's Diverging Paths
3. The Transformation of Privilege
4. Truth, Privacy and Authority
5. The Individual Conscience and Blasphemous and Obscene Expression
6. Private Defamation Suits: Courts in Everyday Life
7. Conclusion.

Subject Areas: Legal history [LAZ], 20th century history: c 1900 to c 2000 [HBLW]