Paladin Press Case Essay

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Each case that goes through court is distinct. The people and laws that are use vary with each court case. Of the world’s population now, many might have forgotten or never heard of the Paladin Press case, but after focusing about this case in class I found myself interested in how the law worked within the trial. After a ex-husband and a hired hitman carry out a gruesome planned out murder, they are taken to court and evidence brought up during the trial implemented that the book Hitman that was published by the Paladin Press was used somewhat as a guide for the hitman and ex-husband. After that trial, the family went after the publishers of Hitman. This is the case I am going to focus on, the Paladin Press and their charge of wrongful death. I will discuss the case, the law with this case, and how I …show more content…

This involved the First Amendment, murder, and people’s opinion. What I mean by this is that with the publisher falling under the protection of the First Amendment, people try to find the line where the First Amendment should stop protecting these kind of “how to guide” publishing’s or if the people should leave this alone to protect the freedom we are already given. The case had very compelling arguments as well evidence. The book Hitman is written somewhat like a “how to” book and gives specific information on how to carry out a murder. Some argue that it’s written more of like a plain comic book, while others could not stomach the information provided within the book. This makes the people question the content within the book. Paladin Press were fully aware that this material might be taken to court in the future because they had a contract with the author that gave the author complete anonymity. This itself was persuasive evidence, but the fact that the original author was no longer held responsible meant that it held no weight other than the fact the publishing group had a suspicion this material could be sued

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