The Difference in US & UK Laws

I don’t understand the laws in the US, hardly surprising as I don’t understand them here either that well. What I don’t understand about the US laws is how come a prostitute can make false claims about a celebrity which are later found to be a pack of lies in a court of law.

The celebrity then tries to sue for defamation of character and is then told that because it had not been proven that the prostitute acted with malice so therefore she was only exercising her constitutional right to free speech. To cap it all she has now started a legal case against the celebrity because he dared to sue her.

All this is helping her achieve what her aim was in the first place, massive publicity. I'm almost certain this would never be allowed to happen here. The first amendment might give citizens in the US the right to free speech, but surely it doesn't give them the right to lie and profit from it?

Phil

Maybe the details are different Phil, but remember that Jeffrey Archer stated in court tha he gave £2000 (i think that was the amount, but am not sure ) to a women he didn't know to help her out without thought of anything in return (!!??). This was accepted by the senile judge and the jury who, if not corrupt must have had an IQ of about 2 . I would consider this a far worse case than the one you quote

Mike

I know nothing about the case at all, I have no interest in sport whatsoever. Once I see that a sportsman or woman is involved I tend to read no further. Its just the sheer fact that this womans allegations were found to be untrue by a US judge and now they have decided that Beckham cannot sue her for defamation of character. It just doesn't add up to me, I thought America was the litigation capitol of the world

Phil

I am of the same opinion as you Phil, sport and all related things bore the brains off me.
The American laws allow these so called publications to publish what they like, and it's up to the individual(s) to prove it was done to harm them.
The publication in question did it's best to stop the details from being published in Britain, where it's alleged Beckham would have stood a better chance of winning.

It really gets me, that the Americans must be so insecure that they claim it is their right to say anything they like even though they know it is untrue. This woman can make a fortune from Slandering someone and they have no right of recourse. Is that what they mean by land of the free?

Phil