Sally thought very seriously about becoming a nun, something most of her family found surprising but very noble. She loves children and was hoping that she could either work as a teacher or at a children's hospital. But as she worked her way through the novitiate process, she gradually came to the realization that she wanted the experience of being a mother and raising children of her own so she left the convent and started taking courses at a teaching college, hoping that she would eventually meet and marry a man with whom she could have a family while also being surrounded by kids every day as a teacher.

While waiting in line at the campus coffee shop she met Harry, a fellow education major. Their conversation went very well and after finding out that she had considered becoming a nun, he really wanted to know more since this was something completely outside his own experience. They had a couple of dates that Sally thought were really nice, but she realized very quickly that Harry was not "the one." Since they had only been on one dinner date and had gone out for coffee another time, she thought breaking it off now would be good since things hadn't really gotten serious.

Unfortunately for Sally, Harry did not take news of the breakup well at all. He called her multiple times, saying that he couldn't live without her and that he needed at least one more chance. Sally wondered if her inexperience in these matters was responsible for her surprise that a man she had not yet even kissed could be this emotionally wound up over what she thought was a preemptive breakup.

Over the next couple of weeks Sally noticed people looking at her, pointing, and laughing with the freinds they were walking with. She couldn't figure out what was going on until she got an email from a friend explaining that she had heard Harry talking about how sexually adventurious Sally was, how he had finally had to break up with her after she insisted that the only way she would continue dating him was if he went with her to a group sex party. He said that she insisted that the two of them should each have sex with as many people as they could, men and women alike, maybe with multiple partners at a time, and that if they did that and he liked it, she would keep going out with him.

Sally was mortified! She tried talking to Harry but he just laughed and said something about this being what happens when you play with fire. She thought she would wait the whole thing out and hoped that it would stop soon. It didn't. Instead, he started spreading these stories online, even photoshopping her face onto some naked women and saying these were the pictures she had insisted he take.

Now Sally was starting to think this wasn't just some annoying game. After all, she intended to teach young children and she was starting to wonder if she could even pass a background check with these lies about her being out in the world.

Sally comes to you and asks what you think. You, of course, advise Sally to talk to a lawyer. But as you talk to each other Saly says that she's worried no one would even take her seriously and she is wondering how she would even prove that she was hurt by these statements since, after all, she's just an undergrad without even a job, let alone any money. And since hardly anyone even knows her, she can't figure out how she would prove that her repuation was harmed. How could she prove how badly she was hurt?

What might you tell Sally to make her feel a little better and encourage her to hire a lawyer? Or, if you think her case is hopeless, what might you tell her?

Defamation comes in two varieties: libel, or written defamation, and slander, which is oral defamation. It sounds like Harry wrote and talked about you so that gives you a much better chance of winning a case since libel and slander are completley different - if he didn't quite do the one, he almost certainly did the other!

Honestly, I don't actually think you do have a case. I mean, if you were to file suit for something like this, I'll bet your story would be picked on the news. Once that happens, you'll be famous, and the New York Times v. Sullivan case says that it's next to impossible for a famous person to win a defamation suit.

I think you can win. According to the law there's this thing called slander per se. It only applies to some things, but one of them is sexual behavior. If you can prove that he said untrue things about your sex life, you don't have to prove that you suffered any kind of economic loss - the court will just assume that you did!

1. John took his son to a Cub Scout Jamboree. In Cub Scouts it's customary for the father of a boy to stay with his son on overnight camping trips and John wanted to do that for his son. However, John had a very important meeting scheduled for early the next morning so he made arrangements for a neighbor who would be accompanying his son to the Jamboree to bring his son home when the event ended.

   Before wrapping up the first day's events and breaking for dinner the leadership of the Jamboree called a meeting with all the scouts and their fathers. Several presentations were given and when the last man stood up to make his speech, he held aloft a handful of heavy chains saying that those chains would be stretched across the entrance to the camp grounds promptly at 6:00 the next morning, when the campers would be hearing the bugle call to wake up. The leadership would not allow any cars into or out of the campgrounds after 6:00 for the safety of the boys. John rolled his eyes but rather than fight it, he got up early the next morning and drove off from the camp site at 5:35 AM. He then drove to the entrance of the camp gounds where he spotted the guy with the chains. Knowing he was very early, he prepared to wave when he realized the guy had locked one end of the chains to a tree and had the other in his hands. He was now stationed on the other side of the road and when John got close, Chain guy pulled the chain tight and locked the other side to a tree opposite the one to which the other side was chained. In other wrods, he closed the road to traffic.

   John got out of the car and leaned against it, saying, "Take it down." Chain Guy responded, "Why should I?" John replied, "Because you probably own a house, a car, and some other things that you like and that you don't want to give to me. But if you don't take down the chains, I will take most everything you own." He then defined false imprisonment.

   Which of the following is that definition?

   		The intentional restraint of another person without reasonable cause and without consent.
   		The intentional or unintentional restraint of another person without reasonable cause and without consent for at least several hours.
   		The intentional restraint of another person in uncomfortable circumstances without reasonable cause and without consent.