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)

9781009017893, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 8 August 2024

492 pages
22.9 x 15.2 x 2.9 cm, 0.74 kg

'This book will be of interest to any historian seeking to better understand free speech, law, society and power in Nova Scotia and Massachusetts in the early nineteenth century.' Kristin A. Olbertson, Comparative Legal History

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]