High Court’s Dissent Gives Hope to Media Smear Victims

by Yuri Vanetik (published in Newsmax)

The most famous defense of free speech in the Western world hails from John Stuart Mill.

The 18th century philosopher was a free speech absolutist. Mill argued that truth prevails when there is unfettered debate. Mill’s argument is delineated in his essay, On Liberty, written more than 150 years ago.

Till this day, borders between permissible and impermissible forms of speech are highly contested, but media is allotted special protection. In a 1964…