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Letter-to-the-editor libel verdict highlights legal distinction for online comments

FROM BARBARA W. WALL: LEGAL WATCH
Letter-to-the-editor libel verdict highlights legal distinction for online comments

A libel verdict awarding a prosecutor $75,000 for criminal accusations made in a published letter to the editor will not be reviewed by the U.S. Supreme Court. (Media Six v. Ziglar, Apr. 16, 2007.) While it was not an issue in this case, the verdict demonstrates how the law treats letters to the editor printed in the newspaper very differently from statements posted by outsiders on news media Web sites.

The libel case stemmed from a prisoner's letter to the editor published in "the buzz" – a now-defunct local tabloid in Martinsville, Va. When he sent the letter, Za'Kee Tahlib had been charged by prosecutor Joan Ziglar with murder.
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Published Thursday, May 10, 2007 5:54 PM by MikeKnaak

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