LAD #2: John Peter Zenger

1. John Peter Zenger was the printer of the New York Weekly Journal that immigrated from Germany. He was hired as the printer of the New York Weekly Journal by a group of wealthy men who opposed William Crosby, the Colonial Governor of New York. The Journal consistently criticized Governor Crosby, like removing Chief Justice Lewis Morris and replacing him with someone from the royal party, until Crosby had enough and arrested Zenger on charges of seditious libel.

2. The controversy was that Zenger was charged with seditious libel. Most of the public believed that the corruption under Crosby that was printed by Zenger's New York Weekly Journal was true so they were outraged over that fact that Zenger was arrested. Hamilton defended Zenger by pleading Zenger's case directly to the jury. He admitted that the stories that had offended Crosby were indeed published by Zenger, but "denied that it was libel unless it was false" (The Acquittal of John Peter Zenger). Hamilton appealed to the jury to look at both the facts and the law. Zenger was acquitted thanks to Hamilton's defense.

3. This acquittal established that there was a defense against libel suits. That defense was truth. Hamilton's victory showed that a statement could not be considered libelous if that statement can be proved to be true. This would apply even if the statement if defamatory or insulting. This also made judges focus more on what is the truth and what is not. After the ruling, a "precedent was set against judicial tyranny in libel suits" (The Acquittal of John Peter Zenger).

4. The ruling in favor of the defense was a victory for freedom of the press. The ruling basically affirmed freedom of the press. This affirmed freedom of the press because a journal or newspaper could potentially publicize an article that could be deemed defamatory or critical of a public official if the article was factual. Influential officials that could be considered corrupt could no longer have someone like Zenger arrested if what that person was printing was factual even if the official's ego was bruised.