Jan. 4, 2022

Professor publishes monograph on truth and privilege

Publication brings together legal, constitutional and social history

Professor Lyndsay Campbell has published the monograph Truth and Privilege: Libel Law in Massachusetts and Nova Scotia, 1820-1840, a comparative study that brings together legal, constitutional and social history to explore the common law's diverging paths in two kindred places committed to freedom of expression but separated by the American Revolution. Comparing Nova Scotia and Massachusetts, Lyndsay examines the development of libel law, the defences of truth and privilege, and the place of courts as fora for disputes. She contrasts courts' centrality in struggles over expression and the interpretation of individual rights in Massachusetts with concerns about defining protective boundaries for the press and individuals through institutional design in Nova Scotia. 

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