The Historical Research Of Public Persons In American Defamation Law

American legal terms such as"Public persons","Public officials"and"Public figures"have aroused great attention these days in China. When confronted with defamations, some Chinese people not only initiate proceedings according to domestic laws, but also contend to introduce American regulations to China for a better protection. Rules related to"Public persons"are exactly a case in point.Popular as American"Public persons"rules are, however, seldom do we get complete understandings. Actually, criminal defamation law, civil defamation law and constitutional defamation law all implemented different"Public persons"rules in different periods, based on typical social and political environment. Therefore, thinking about the"Public persons"in a historical and developing way, and learning how to balance public persons'reputation and freedom of expression through research are advisable methods.