NRS 200.510 – When does “Libel” become a crime in Nevada?

Libel is the Nevada crime of publishing unflattering lies about someone else. It is prosecuted as a gross misdemeanor carrying up to 364 days in jail and/or $2,000 in fines.

These cases usually stay in the domain of civil courts, where the judge can order the alleged libeler to pay damages and print a retraction. Many people do not realize libel can lead to incarceration under Nevada Revised Statute 200.510.

In this article, our Las Vegas criminal defense attorneys discuss the following libel topics:

• 1. Elements
• 2. Criminal vs. Civil Libel
• 3. Defenses
• 4. Penalties
• 5. Related Offenses
• Additional Reading

1. Elements

For you to be convicted of libel under Nevada Revised Statute 200.510, prosecutors must prove beyond a reasonable doubt the following elements of the crime:

1. You published untruths about someone else;
2. You acted maliciously; and
3. These untruths cast the person in a negative light.

Note that orally speaking lies does not qualify as libel, though it may expose you to civil liability for slander.

Libel can occur through any publishing medium such as newspapers, books, billboards, websites, social media such as Facebook or Twitter, and even emails. Also, editors who knowingly publish libel face the same criminal liability as the writer(s) who fabricated the lies to begin with.¹

2. Criminal vs. Civil Libel

In criminal court, the prosecution has the burden to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that you maliciously defamed the victim, which is an extremely high standard. This is in contrast to civil court, where the plaintiff only has to show by a preponderance of the evidence that your negligence led to the libel.²

Therefore, it is not unusual for defendants to be found liable in a civil suit but to be acquitted in a criminal case regarding the same libel allegation. In practice, Nevada prosecutors tend not to pursue criminal libel cases unless the circumstances are very serious or high-profile.

For more information, see our article on defamation lawsuits in Nevada.

3. Defenses

In Nevada, libel if often a difficult charge for the prosecution to prove because defamation is very subjective. In our experience, the following three defenses have proven very effective with prosecutors, judges, and juries at getting libel charges reduced or dismissed.

1. The Information Was Truthful. Truth is a complete defense to libel charges. As long as we can show that your comments were accurate, then you are not criminally liable.
2. You Acted Maliciously. Prosecutors have no way of getting inside your head to see what you were thinking. As long as they cannot prove you had malicious intent, no crime occurred.
3. You Were an Editor with No Knowledge of the Libel. If libel ran in your newspaper, periodical, etc., you are not liable as long as you did not know about it and ran a retraction as soon as you found out about it. If the D.A. cannot show that the libelous material was approved by you, the case should be dismissed.

4. Penalties

Alleged violations of libel law are prosecuted as a gross misdemeanor in Nevada. The punishment includes:

• up to 364 days in jail, and/or
• up to $2,000 in fines.³

5. Related Offenses

NRS 200.560 makes it a gross misdemeanor either to:

• threaten someone with the publication of libel about them or their family or
• offer to prevent the publication of libel in order to extort money.

The sentence is:

• up to 364 days in jail, and/or
• up to $2,000 in fines.

Meanwhile, NRS 200.550 makes it a misdemeanor to willfully deliver any defamatory statement about a person or corporation to an editor or publisher. The sentence is:

• up to 6 months in jail, and/or
• up to $1,000 in fines.

Additional Reading

For more in-depth information, refer to these scholarly articles:

• Twibel Law: What Defamation and Its Remedies Look like in the Age of Twiter – Journal of High Technology Law.
• Injunctions in Defamation Cases – Syracuse Law Review.
• The Case against Expanding Defamation Law – Alabama Law Review.
• Freedom of Speech, Defamation, and Injunctions – William & Mary Law Review.
• Defamation in the Private Sector: The Libelous and Slanderous Employer – University of Dayton Law Review.

---

Legal References