Two CNN legal analyst said on Tuesday that the city of Paris could win a lawsuit against Fox News because French law was less tolerant of slander and defamation than United States law. On Tuesday, Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo told CNN that the city was going to sue the conservative network for repeatedly reporting that there were so-called no-go zones in the city where Muslims had taken control. Fox eventually issued several on-air apologies after leaders like British Prime Minister David Cameron and French television shows mocked the network. When were insulted, and when weve had an image, then I think well have to sue, I think well have to go to court, in order to have these words removed, Hidalgo explained to CNNs Christiane Amanpour on Tuesday. The image of Paris has been prejudiced, and the honor of Paris has been prejudiced. And according to CNN legal analysts, Fox News may get away with stretching the truth ( or better yet LIEING ) in the U.S., but it should take the threat of a French lawsuit very seriously. Under U.S. law, I would say there is no chance of bringing a defamation case against the Fox network, CNN legal analyst Paul Callan explained. Under French law, however, if they can get jurisdiction over Fox, theres a law from 1881 -- believe it or not -- that says if you insult the honor of a French body or person, you can sue for defamation. So under the 1881 French law, they might have a case against the Fox network in France. Legal analyst Danny Cevallos advised Fox News to settle with Paris and put the lawsuit behind them as quickly as possible. If you want to defend a defamation lawsuit, its pricey, its costly, a lot of times you want those things to go away, Cevallos said. People may be surprised to learn that the French, in fact, do not take such a liberal view of the First Amendment as do we. Of course, they dont have a First Amendment, but they have laws criminalizing defamation. Whereas here in the United States, defamation is merely a civil action. And I think that would surprise people to learn that France just doesnt view free speech the way we do.
Posted on: Tue, 27 Jan 2015 03:23:28 +0000
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