Comments Policy

The Ark Valley Voice values and encourages community discussion.  The website will post all comments and letters we receive, whether from friend or foe, with one exception.  Unfortunately, defamation and libel laws are fashioned in ways that keep “the little guy” and freedom of speech poised on the chopping block at all times.  Therefore, we will not publish letters or comments which could expose us to potentially disastrous lawsuits. 

Below is a quick description of defamation and libel from thefirstamendment.org:

“Defamation is injury to reputation caused by the utterance or publication of false statements. Defamation includes libel and slander. Libel includes written or “permanently fixed” falsehoods. Slander includes spoken falsehoods. State law varies on whether or not it is important to distinguish between libel and slander. In many states, there is no difference at all. Some states, however, will have different statutes of limitations and different limits on recoverable damages, among other distinctions, for libel and slander. State law also varies with respect to whether statements made on radio or television or through various electronic media are considered libel or slander. Trade libel is the disparagement of the quality of a product or the services of a company as opposed to the disparagement of the company’s general reputation.”

This means that even if you know something to be true, if you cannot definitively prove it in a court of law, you may be committing libel or defamation if you print it for public consumption.

The best approach is to write what you know to be factually accurate and verifiable and leave your reader to form his or her own opinion.

If your comment is not published, please consider it in light of the above information and rewrite accordingly.  This does not mean the truth cannot be told.  What it means is you have to write the truth in a way that protects you from powerful people with gobs of money.