Tags: Draft Doging, Great War, World War One Categories: Criminal Liability, Defamation, Speech Comments TrackbacksĬorporate Social Responsibility & The Law According to the Court, being identified as one was just the sort of innocuous name-calling that was “regarded as a part of life for which the law of defamation affords no remedy.”Ĭopyright © 2023, Foley Hoag LLP. Without reference to military service, war, or even general laziness, the Court viewed the statement merely as a generic “form of verbal abuse.” By this time, of course, “Slacker” was best-known simply the name of a movie about unemployed hipsters. One exception was in 2010, when an Arizona woman, whose manager had called her a “B***h, Idiot and Slacker,” argued that the term was susceptible to a defamatory meaning. generally applied to a person who unlawfully evaded or attempted to evade his military duty.” However, since the war ended, it “ha come to have another equally well-known meaning, referring to one who evades or attempts to evade some other duty.” The Court held that, since the word was now “capable of the two meanings, it would have been error for the trial judge” to instruct the jury that it necessarily imputed a lack of patriotism or a failure to perform a military duty.Īlthough the term “slacker” surfaced again during World War II, it eventually came to be disassociated with military service altogether, and is rarely mentioned in published defamation opinions after the 1920’s. On appeal, the Hawaii Supreme Court first noted the war had been over for nearly a year by the time the article was published. At trial, the judge refused to instruct the jury that the “primary” or “ordinary” meaning of the word “slacker” was the evasion of military duty. A local newspaper viciously attacked him for this, accusing him of letting down the public and disgracing the “Hawaiian race.” Even worse, the article called Kahanamoku a “slacker.” Kahanamoku sued the newspaper for defamation. On or about October 29, 1919, Kahanamoku pulled out of a swimming exhibition due to muscle pain. Advertiser Publishingdemonstrated just how fast this changed occurred.ĭuke Kahanamoku was a world famous surfer, swimmer and Olympic gold medalist. Without an active draft, the explosive nature of the word “slacker” quickly diminished. The armistice with Germany was signed on November 11, 1918, effectively ending the war for the U.S. However, the holding amply reflects the universally understood poisonous import of “slacker” during that period. The Court ended up reversing the case on other grounds, namely that the real culprit had been a rogue employee not under the control of the company. Whether or not this would be so in time of peace we need not determine.” To falsely publish such an accusation of any person was manifestly libelous per se. During the war it was unquestionably a term of the severest reproach, well understood by all men, and calculated to subject its bearer to hatred and contempt in practically every community in the land. “ The word is not found in prewar lexicons, but had its genesis as to use and meaning in the conditions following our entrance into the World War. The Alabama Supreme Court resoundingly disagreed, holding: The company asserted that the word “slacker” was not so awful that it was defamatory per se (actionable without proof of specific harm), and the jury should have been so charged. The jury returned a verdict for the plaintiff, and the company appealed. Lillich brought a defamation suit against the mining company. On July 18, 1918, while the war was raging, the words “List of slackers: John Lillich” were painted near the entrance to the Choctaw Coal mine in Walker County, Alabama. Many libel cases arose from the use of the term “slacker” during the war, but perhaps the most well-known was Choctaw Coal & Mining Co.
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