criminal-law canada defamation ohio
Is calumny against the law in Ohio and in British Columbia, Canada?
<p>Calumny is technically the act of a person falsely accusing another person of a crime.</p>
<p>However, the common definition of calumny means the act of maliciously (i.e. with
the intent to do harm) misrepresenting someone's conduct to harm that person's reputation.&quot;</p>
<p>Is <em>calumny</em> a crime to be charged by a State prosecutor?</p>
<p>Is <em>calumny</em> an offense that can be the subject of a civil suit?</p>
<p>What would be the relevant statutes in Ohio? in British Columbia?</p>

<p>In Ohio, and in most common-law jurisdictions, this conduct is covered under the tort of defamation. It is a common law tort rather than a statutory tort, so there is no statute to consult. Case law requires a defamation plaintiff to prove:</p>
<ol>
<li>that a false statement of fact was made;</li>
<li>that the statement was defamatory;</li>
<li>that the statement was published;</li>
<li>that the plaintiff suffered injury as a proximate result of the publication; and</li>
<li>that the defendant acted with the requisite degree of fault in publishing the statement.</li>
</ol>
<p><a href="https://casetext.com/case/american-chemical-society-v-leadscope" rel="noreferrer"><em>Am. Chem. Soc. v. Leadscope, Inc.</em>, 133 Ohio St.3d 366, ¶ 77</a>.</p>
<p>In the United States, defamation is very rarely going to be a criminal matter in and of itself. Because of the First Amendment's robust protections for free speech, defamation cases are generally doomed to failure, even when the speech in question is demonstrably false.</p>
<p>In British Columbia, the elements should be roughly the same, but I don't have a sense of how often these claims are successful or whether there are criminal sanctions for defamation.</p>

<p><a href="/questions/tagged/ohio" class="post-tag" title="show questions tagged &#39;ohio&#39;" rel="tag">ohio</a></p>
<p>As well as defamation, covered by @bdb484, &quot;falsely accusing another person of a crime&quot; is also a first degree misdemeanor:</p>
<p><a href="https://law.justia.com/codes/ohio/2011/title29/chapter2921/section2921-13/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Ohio Revised Code 2921.13</a> states:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>(A) No person shall knowingly make a false statement, or knowingly swear or affirm the truth of a false statement previously made, when any of the following applies:</p>
<p>[...]</p>
<ul>
<li>(2) The statement is made with purpose to incriminate another.</li>
</ul>
<p>[...]</p>
</blockquote>
<p><a href="/questions/tagged/british-columbia" class="post-tag" title="show questions tagged &#39;british-columbia&#39;" rel="tag">british-columbia</a></p>
<p>The <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Criminal_Code_(Canada)" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Candian Criminal Code</a> codifies most criminal offences in Canada including, at <a href="https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/c-46/section-140.html" rel="nofollow noreferrer">RSC 1985, c C-46 s.140</a> the offence of Public Mischief:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>(1) Every one commits public mischief who, with intent to mislead, causes a peace officer to enter on or continue an investigation by</p>
<ul>
<li><p>(a) making a false statement that accuses some other person of having committed an offence;</p>
</li>
<li><p>(b) doing anything intended to cause some other person to be suspected of having committed an offence that the other person has not committed, or to divert suspicion from himself;</p>
</li>
<li><p>(c) reporting that an offence has been committed when it has not been committed; or...</p>
</li>
</ul>
<p>[...]</p>
</blockquote>
