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55 Wm. & Mary L. Rev. 1 (2013-2014)
Freedom of Speech, Defamation, and Injunctions

handle is hein.journals/wmlr55 and id is 11 raw text is: William & Mary
Law Review
VOLUME 55                                                  No. 1, 2013
FREEDOM OF SPEECH, DEFAMATION, AND INJUNCTIONS
DAVID S. ARDIA*
ABSTRACT
It has long been a fixture of Anglo-American law that defamation
plaintiffs are not entitled to injunctive relief, their remedies are solely
monetary. Indeed, it has been repeated as a truism: equity will not
enjoin a libel. This precept rests on one of the strongest presump-
tions in First Amendment jurisprudence: that injunctions against
libel and other kinds of speech are unconstitutional prior restraints.
But it may not be true, at least not anymore.
Over the past decade, the Internet has brought increased attention
to the adequacy of the remedies available in defamation cases. Prior
to the widespread availability of digital publishing, most defamation
lawsuits in the United States involved claims against the mass
* Assistant Professor, University of North Carolina School of Law; Faculty Co-Director,
UNC Center for Media Law and Policy; and Faculty Associate, Berkman Center for Internet
& Society at Harvard University. Special thanks to Al Brophy, Bruce Brown, Bernie Burk,
Andrew Chin, Deborah Gerhardt, Michael Gerhardt, Joan Krause, Bill Marshall, Mary-Rose
Papandrea, Doug Rendleman, Rebecca Tushnet, Eugene Volokh, Ruth Walden, Mark
Weidemaier and participants at the Freedom of Expression Scholars Conference at Yale Law
School, Internet Law Works-in-Progress Symposium at New York Law School, Intellectual
Property Scholars Conference at DePaul University College of Law, and faculty workshop at
Illinois Institute of Technology Chicago-Kent College of Law. Thank you also to Tabitha
Messick Childs and Ed Roche, my research assistants.

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