Utah Family Law Center - December 2021

Utah Family Law Center - December 2021

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December 2021

Slander, Libel, and Defamation What’s the Difference?

In a time when attack politics are at the forefront of media and politics, we often hear terms like slander, libel, and defamation. While the First Amendment gives us our freedom of speech, not all speech is protected. It’s more important than ever to understand the difference between slander, libel, and defamation and know how to ensure your speech does not cross into these areas. WHAT IS DEFAMATION? Defamation is the all-encompassing term that describes both slander and libel. When an untrue and damaging statement, presented as fact , injures a third party’s reputation, it’s defamation of character. For example, you can’t hurt a person’s reputation by simply saying they’re annoying; however, saying they participate in illegal activities when they actually do not can be extremely damaging. It should be noted that you cannot be sued for defamation for simply stating an opinion . However, if the statement is untrue and damages the person’s reputation, whether it be written or oral, you could be sued for defamation. WHAT IS LIBEL? Libel is a method of defamation expressed in print, writing, pictures, signs, effigies, or any communication embodied in physical form. Libel used to refer to things printed in newspapers and other forms of print media, but in our digital world, things like blogs,

Twitter posts, and online publications can now be subject to libel lawsuits.

spread around the water cooler at work. Like libel, slanderous statements need to be expressed as fact, not just opinion. Since slander is spoken defamation, it can be much harder to prove than libel. Not only do you have to prove the person said it, but you also have to prove the person was negligent with the truth. Politicians have to prove actual malice in addition to all the other stipulations regarding slander. JUST TELL THE TRUTH. If you are ever accused of defamation, the best defense is the truth. If you can prove what you said or wrote was truthful, there is no case. The bottom line is this: The easiest way to avoid defamation lawsuits is by simply telling the truth about people. If you’re not sure something is true, don’t spread it around. Find out the facts before needlessly ruining someone’s reputation.

Tabloids have been a reliable source for drama and libel cases for years. Many celebrities have repeatedly sued them for publishing stories with false or untrue allegations. For example, the British tabloid Daily Mail published multiple untrue stories regarding Keira Knightley’s weight, claiming she was anorexic. She sued the tabloid for libel and won. J.K. Rowling and Kate Winslet have also successfully sued Daily Mail for libel.

HOW DOES SLANDER DIFFER FROM LIBEL?

Where libel is a physical form of defamation, slander is spoken defamation, whether it be on television, radio, or even just rumors

Telling lies and spreading rumors can cost you big in the long run.

Please call us at 801-405-7827 to find out how we can help you!

Matthew Grow

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How to Make the Perfect Snowball

With and Without Snow! If you live in a snowy climate, you’ve likely made at least one snowball — but how good was your technique? It turns out the process of snowball-making is more complicated than grabbing a handful of powder and squeezing it. To understand the nuance, Popular Science asked both a NASA astrochemist and a director from Montana State’s Snow and Avalanche Laboratory to weigh in. According to the astrochemist, a truly perfect snowball would need to be made in a lab or outer space. Those are the only places where you can achieve pressure high enough to melt the snow and refreeze to make a “meniscus” (aka “snowball glue”) throughout the ball. But if you don’t have a private lab or rocket ship, here’s the next best thing.

if your snow is worthy, try the squeeze test. If it sticks together when you squeeze it without gushing water, you’re set!

2. Keep your gloves on. There’s no need to go gloveless if your snow passed the squeeze test. You may be tempted to try turning dry snow into wet snow with your body heat, but ignore the urge — at best you’ll create a fragile snowball with only a thin shell of snowball glue. 3. Crank up the pressure. The tighter you squeeze your snowball, the better it will be! At the annual Japanese snowball fight Yukigassen, players use molds to make extra- tight snowballs. You can buy one on Amazon for under $10.

3 STEPS TO SNOWBALL PERFECTION

THE SNOWBALL YOU CAN DRINK

1. Test the snow for “free

If your backyard is snowless, we have good news: You can still make snowballs — the drinkable kind! The Snowball is a classic Christmas cocktail named for the dome of froth that appears when you stir it. It’s made by mixing one part lime cordial and two parts Warninks Advocaat Liqueur with ice, then straining the mixture and adding six parts lemonade. For more details and snowball trivia, visit GoodHousekeeping.com.

water.” You snow can’t be too soggy or too dry. You want what The International Classification for Seasonal Snow on the Ground calls “wet” snow, which is 3%–8% water by volume. To see

Rudolph, You’ll Go Down in History Behind the Evergreen Christmas Special

You know Dasher and Dancer, and you definitely know Rudolph. Everyone’s favorite red-nosed reindeer was first born as a 1939 short story, but he truly shot to fame when his tale was adapted into a song by Gene Autry in 1949. Rivaling even the song’s fame is the Rankin/Bass stop-motion special that airs like clockwork every year around Christmas. Generations have now grown up with Rudolph, so it may be surprising to learn that his journey to the small screen started as a General Electric promotion. The company had a running television special on NBC called the “GE Fantasy Hour,” which they used to market their products directly to viewers. The better the story they told, the more viewers they got — and the more toasters they could sell. The script introduced crucial new characters like Hermey the elf, Yukon Cornelius the prospector, and of course, Bumble the abominable snowman. GE hired innovative Japanese animators to create the film using stop-motion techniques that were highly advanced for the time. GE invested the modern equivalent of $4.5 million into the production of “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer,” and the special first aired in 1964.

Those who are familiar with the film know that it ends with Rudolph enlisting Santa to save the Misfit Toys from earlier in the movie — but it didn’t originally. The version that aired in 1964 concludes with Rudolph leading Santa’s sleigh but forgetting all about his homeless friends. The backlash was swift, and viewers wrote in to express displeasure at the heartless resolution. GE decided the special had to be corrected and played again with the proper ending in 1965. And so, a tradition of annual airings was born. Today, “Rudolph” is the longest-running Christmas special in history, and our favorite misfit deer shows no signs of slowing down after 57 years. The movie has transformed into a marketing bonanza, with new Christmas decorations, figurines, and toys being produced each year. Though it’s somewhat shocking to our modern sensibilities to see Santa bullying his reindeer employees and their children, fond childhood memories mean that parents continue to pass the special down to their kids. Even as we recognize its flaws, the dazzling animation and famous songs continue to bring joy and Christmas spirit to households around the country. Just as sure as Santa comes every year, so does Rudolph.

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TAKE A BREAK

CELTIC YULE CUPCAKES

Ingredients

Inspired by RecipesForAPaganSoul.weebly.com.

• 2 eggs

• 1/2 cup butter

• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

• Orange zest, to taste

• 2/3 cup sugar

• 1 1/4 cups flour

• 3/4 tsp baking powder

• 1 tbsp milk

• 1 1/3 cups raisins

• 2 tbsp hot water

• 2 cups powdered sugar

Directions

THE LITTLE-KNOWN STORY OF THE HAYS CODE

1. Preheat the oven to 375 F.

If you’ve seen the classic movie “Casablanca,” you might be surprised to learn the original version was more risqué that what was shown on theater screens. The night Rick and Ilsa shared in Paris was more, ahem, explicitly passionate, but those lines were dropped on the cutting room floor. And it wasn’t because of artistic choice. There was an industry standard of the time called the Hays Code (or officially, the Motion Picture Production Code). This now-forgotten list of rules predated today’s movie rating system and governed Hollywood from 1934 to 1968. It was intended to clean up the violent, drug-filled movie business much like Prohibition — which preceded it — had been designed to clean up a drunken America. You’ve likely watched many movies and TV shows filmed under the restrictions of the Hays Code. For example, Mental Floss reports the code is the reason “I Love Lucy” never showed Lucy and Ricky sharing a bed or used the word “pregnant,” even when Lucy was expecting!

2. In a large bowl, beat together the eggs, butter, vanilla, orange zest, and sugar. 3. Add the flour and baking powder, then fold in the milk and raisins.

4. Grease a cupcake tin before pouring the batter into it.

5. Bake for 20–25 minutes or until cooked through. Let cool. 6. In a small bowl, blend the hot water and powdered sugar to create the icing.

7. Ice your cupcakes and serve!

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INSIDE THIS ISSUE

The Difference Between Slander, Libel, and Defamation

1

The Secret History of the Hays Code Celtic Yule Cupcakes Make the Perfect Snowball in 3 Steps How Rudolph Became a TV Institution

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Katy Perry’s Real Estate Battle

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KATY PERRY’S LEGAL BATTLE WITH NUNS

Fighting for Convent Real Estate

Katy Perry is known around the globe for having multiple No. 1 hits, including “I Kissed A Girl,” “Teenage Dream,” and “Firework,” but two nuns in Los Angeles know Perry for a completely different reason. They were in a multiyear legal battle with Perry and the Archdiocese of Los Angeles over the purchase of a convent. In 1972, the Sisters of the Immaculate Heart of Mary pooled their money and purchased an 8-acre, French-style chateau in Los Angeles. Sisters Rita Callanan and Catherine Rose Holzman lived in the chateau-turned- convent until 2011, when the Archdiocese of Los Angeles reportedly forced them to relocate. Two years later, Archbishop José Gomez sold the property to Perry without any input from the sisters, but the nuns felt that the archdiocese did not have the right to do

this. Gomez accepted a $14.5 million cash offer from Perry, but the nuns refused to sell to her. Believing they had sole ownership of the convent, they instead sold it to restaurateur and developer Dana Hollister. The archdiocese and Perry both sued Hollister for her involvement, claiming she took advantage of the nuns, and a judge invalidated her purchase months after it was made. A Los Angeles Superior Court judge ruled in favor of the archdiocese, creating an opportunity for Perry to buy the estate due to the fact that the nuns did not have the approval of the pope, the Holy See, or the archbishop. In 2017, a jury found that Hollister intentionally interfered with Perry’s legal purchase. She was ordered to pay both Perry and the archdiocese millions of dollars. The sisters continued to support

Hollister, and they both accompanied her to bankruptcy court, where Sister Holzman collapsed and died during the court proceeding. Sister Callanan blamed Perry for the death of Holzman. The convent is back on the market, and it does not appear that Perry will move forward with the purchase.

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