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61 Fed. Comm. L.J. 625 (2008-2009)
Restraining False Light: Constitutional and Common Law Limits on a Troublesome Tort

handle is hein.journals/fedcom61 and id is 639 raw text is: Restraining False Light: Constitutional and Common Law Limits on a Troublesome Tort By James B. Lake* I. INTRODUCTION ......................................................................... 626 II. JUDICIAL AND LEGISLATIVE LIMITS ON DEFAMATION ............ 627 A. Elements and Presumptions at Common Law ................. 627 B. The End of Common Law Strict Liability in Defamation 632 C. The End of Presumed Damages ....................................... 633 D. The Burden of Truth Lifted .............................................. 634 E. Legislative and Judicial Limits on Defamation ............... 635 Il1. THE GROWTH OF FALSE LIGHT AS AN ALTERNATIVE TO D EFAM ATION ............................................................................ 637 IV. REDRESSING THE UNCERTAINTY .............................................. 639 A. The Common Law's Restraint on Alternative Torts ........ 641 1. The Single Action Rule ........................................... 64 1 * Member and secretary-treasurer, Thomas, LoCicero & Bralow PL, Tampa, Florida, and adjunct professor, Stetson University College of Law. Many thanks to my colleagues at Thomas, LoCicero & Bralow PL, particularly James J. McGuire, for his comments on an early draft of this Article. Thanks also to my students at the Stetson University College of Law, particularly Patricia Avidan, for her earlier study of false light law in Florida. See Patricia Avidan, Protecting the Media's First Amendment Rights in Florida: Making False Light Plaintiffs Play by Defamation Rules, 35 STETSON L. REv. 227 (2005). Thanks also to Professor Randall Bezanson for inspiring the title of this article. See RANDALL P. BEZANSON GILBERT CRANBERG, JOHN SoLOSKI, LIBEL LAW AND THE PRESS: MYTH AND REALITY 97 (1987) (the false light action is ... a troublesome tort, for in many instances it forms the basis for a lawsuit when neither a defamation action nor a privacy claim can be made out because reputation has not been harmed and embarrassing private facts have not been disclosed.).