Daliah Saper Quoted in Record Searchlight Article about Defamation in Political Campaigns

Record Searchlight, a USA Today subsidiary publication based in Redding, California, recently quoted Daliah Saper in its article about determining whether or not a political campaign mailer could be deemed libelous.

The mailer at issue was distributed by California Rep. Doug LaMalfa’s campaign.  It appears to be edited to show challenger Audrey Denney signing a pledge to “support Nancy Pelosi, House Minority Leader and the Liberal Democrats in continuing tax increases.  Denney’s campaign said the original picture shows her signing a pledge not to accept donations from corporate political action committees, something that’s been a major talking point for her campaign.

Does this modification creates grounds for a defamation suit? Daliah explained that, “there are multiple things to consider in proving a defamation suit.” In this instance, “Is the picture obviously a fake, or is it convincing enough that some people would believe it?”

You can read the article and more of Daliah’s commentary here:Denney says LaMalfa’s campaign put fake picture of her in new mailer