Twenty-four states have laws that make it a crime to publicly say mean things about people, with penalties ranging from fines to imprisonment. These laws violate the First Amendment and are disproportionately used against people who criticize public officials or government employees. The ACLU has filed a lawsuit challenging the law in New Hampshire.

Freedom of speech doesn’t give anyone the absolute right to spread malicious lies about people, but civil lawsuits are fully capable of addressing the harms caused by defamation. Criminal defamation laws have no place in a democracy. Several states have already repealed these unconstitutional laws, and the remaining ones that still have them on the books should follow suit.

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