Jurisdiction:
Area of Law:
Question:
Selected Answer:
Submitted by DakotaLegal on
All Comments
Submitted by DakotaLegal on
It’s a hard case to prove, to win, or to stop. Many of these kinds of complaints now involve child custody disputes. Judges even seem to excuse defamation in custody cases. Maybe it can be explained by saying emotions so often “run high” in these cases. Some parents—especially if they have a weak custody case or are bad parents— want to do everything possible, no matter how low, to “win” custody. If getting fed up is true of the person who lies (the legal word is “defamation” and, yes, you can sue them for it) then it’s even more true for the person being lied about (defamed). You will feel you have reached your own limit…especially if the lies end up in official records or affidavits.
California does give you the right to sue for defamation. Unfortunately, California law also makes it hard to prove defamation in a custody case. Here’s the law: http://law. onecle. com/california/civil/47.html.
Your case is a little unusual since the lies are aimed at you as a fiancé to the parent. That actually helps you a bit in proving defamation. Here’s a case where a court talked about who hears the defamation, and the issue of whether it was ever true, but is now false: http://caselaw.findlaw.com/ca-court-of-appeal/1009503.html. It’s usually the father who is attacked this way. If your case is otherwise “normal,” the lies first started with attacks on your fiancé. Unfortunately, a claim for defamation will generally not work to prove harmful lies made during a divorce or custody dispute. If the lies are during custody litigation, or told to interested welfare agencies or law enforcement, then they are privileged from lawsuit. So one thing you can do is to get a list of people who received the defamatory statement(s) and show they were not “interested” parties.
Defamation in a custody case usually starts with calls to the police. The next step is usually making lies to Child Protective Services. Once the defamer feels safe, they often start a non-stop rumor campaign with anyone who will listen. Finally, calls (or anonymous letters) go to the school district. You have a general right to get any recorded and written complaints made against you to public agencies. In most cases where someone tried to stop the lie campaign, however, every step of the defamation was actually protected under California’s Civil Code § 47. This law has even protected a defaming parent when she started (falsely) telling parents at a school that the father was “maybe” a child abuser. Obviously, it is expensive to try and win these kinds of cases. On the other hand, it may be worth it to sue, and try to get her to stop. If you would have trouble affording a lawyer, try getting help from legal aid http://www.courts. ca.gov/selfhelp-lowcosthelp.htm or from California’s pro Bono program http://cc.calbar .ca.gov/ CommitteesCommissions/ StandingCommittees/Delivery ofLegalServices/ ProBonoResources.aspx .
Having said that, it is possible to win a defamation case. For example, in one case, a mom printed flyers and passed them out to other parents as they picked up kids from school. The father won that case, when he proved the mother had not limited the flyer only to parents with kids in the warring couple’s child’s own classes. Her legal mistake was that she had “over published” the defamation to parents (and others) who would “likely never come into contact” with the father. The court said these people had “no interest” in the custody dispute.
You have an idea how awful the lies have been, so you can compare the above case to what you know about what’s been said…if, for example, the comments have been “over published.” So let’s assume she has gone “too far.” You have two more obstacles. First, there’s a chance that filing a defamation lawsuit will interfere with the custody case: reacting to her allegations may actually bring attention to the allegations. For whatever reason, for example, child welfare workers view a natural tendency to defend yourself from allegations as an attempt to hide “facts.” Second, even if you might win a defamation suit, most lawyers will charge too much to win…viewing the case as time intensive and a gamble to recover damages.
Keep in mind you usually have two years to file this kind of lawsuit. Also, it is possible to file by yourself, if you are absolutely committed to righting the wrongs the defamation against you. Here’s information on filing a suit on your own: http://www.courts.ca.gov/ partners/ documents/HelpThemselves.pdf. Keep in mind, someone who lies repeatedly to try and ‘win’ custody is actually almost always damaging their own credibility in the custody case.
It’s a hard case to prove, to win, or to stop. Many of these kinds of complaints now involve child custody disputes. Judges even seem to excuse defamation in custody cases. Maybe it can be explained by saying emotions so often “run high” in these cases. Some parents—especially if they have a weak custody case or are bad parents— want to do everything possible, no matter how low, to “win” custody. If getting fed up is true of the person who lies (the legal word is “defamation” and, yes, you can sue them for it) then it’s even more true for the person being lied about (defamed). You will feel you have reached your own limit…especially if the lies end up in official records or affidavits.
California does give you the right to sue for defamation. Unfortunately, California law also makes it hard to prove defamation in a custody case. Here’s the law: http://law. onecle. com/california/civil/47.html.
Your case is a little unusual since the lies are aimed at you as a fiancé to the parent. That actually helps you a bit in proving defamation. Here’s a case where a court talked about who hears the defamation, and the issue of whether it was ever true, but is now false: http://caselaw.findlaw.com/ca-court-of-appeal/1009503.html. It’s usually the father who is attacked this way. If your case is otherwise “normal,” the lies first started with attacks on your fiancé. Unfortunately, a claim for defamation will generally not work to prove harmful lies made during a divorce or custody dispute. If the lies are during custody litigation, or told to interested welfare agencies or law enforcement, then they are privileged from lawsuit. So one thing you can do is to get a list of people who received the defamatory statement(s) and show they were not “interested” parties.
Defamation in a custody case usually starts with calls to the police. The next step is usually making lies to Child Protective Services. Once the defamer feels safe, they often start a non-stop rumor campaign with anyone who will listen. Finally, calls (or anonymous letters) go to the school district. You have a general right to get any recorded and written complaints made against you to public agencies. In most cases where someone tried to stop the lie campaign, however, every step of the defamation was actually protected under California’s Civil Code § 47. This law has even protected a defaming parent when she started (falsely) telling parents at a school that the father was “maybe” a child abuser. Obviously, it is expensive to try and win these kinds of cases. On the other hand, it may be worth it to sue, and try to get her to stop. If you would have trouble affording a lawyer, try getting help from legal aid http://www.courts. ca.gov/selfhelp-lowcosthelp.htm or from California’s pro Bono program http://cc.calbar .ca.gov/ CommitteesCommissions/ StandingCommittees/Delivery ofLegalServices/ ProBonoResources.aspx .
Having said that, it is possible to win a defamation case. For example, in one case, a mom printed flyers and passed them out to other parents as they picked up kids from school. The father won that case, when he proved the mother had not limited the flyer only to parents with kids in the warring couple’s child’s own classes. Her legal mistake was that she had “over published” the defamation to parents (and others) who would “likely never come into contact” with the father. The court said these people had “no interest” in the custody dispute.
You have an idea how awful the lies have been, so you can compare the above case to what you know about what’s been said…if, for example, the comments have been “over published.” So let’s assume she has gone “too far.” You have two more obstacles. First, there’s a chance that filing a defamation lawsuit will interfere with the custody case: reacting to her allegations may actually bring attention to the allegations. For whatever reason, for example, child welfare workers view a natural tendency to defend yourself from allegations as an attempt to hide “facts.” Second, even if you might win a defamation suit, most lawyers will charge too much to win…viewing the case as time intensive and a gamble to recover damages.
Keep in mind you usually have two years to file this kind of lawsuit. Also, it is possible to file by yourself, if you are absolutely committed to righting the wrongs the defamation against you. Here’s information on filing a suit on your own: http://www.courts.ca.gov/ partners/ documents/HelpThemselves.pdf. Keep in mind, someone who lies repeatedly to try and ‘win’ custody is actually almost always damaging their own credibility in the custody case.