Calif. court says bloggers can't be sued

via KOS

Good news for bloggers in Luzerne County and nationwide. We now have some case law that protects us when we link to something that someone objects to.

State's Supreme Court said a federal law gives immunity from libel suits

The California Supreme Court ruled Monday that bloggers and participants in Internet bulletin board groups cannot be sued for posting defamatory statements made by others.
In deciding a case closely watched by free speech groups, the court said a federal law gives immunity from libel suits not only to Internet service providers, like AOL, but also to bloggers and other users of their services.
"Subjecting Internet service providers and users to defamation liability would tend to chill online speech," today's unanimous ruling said.

This doesn't mean we can say any irresponsible thing about anybody but it protects us if we link to someone who does put something out there that turns out not to be true. I'm not a lawyer but I read it to mean that we are also not responsible for any charges made in our comments.