UT · jury_instructions
MUJI 2d CV1612
Group Defamation Rule.
To be actionable, a defamatory statement must refer to [name of plaintiff]. In general, statements that refer only to a group or class of people are not actionable. [Name of plaintiff] can maintain a defamation claim based on such a statement if and only if [he/she/it] shows either:
(1) the referenced group or class is so small that a reasonable person would understand the statement as specifically referring to [name of plaintiff]; or
(2) given the circumstances of publication, a reasonable person would understand the statement as specifically referring to [name of plaintiff]. The fact that a referenced group is large does not by itself preclude [name of plaintiff] from satisfying this requirement.
Provenance
- Source
- legacy.utcourts.gov
- Retrieved
- 2026-08-22
- Edition
- 2026-08-21
- Content hash
ae265cf38b81b579579f64c487d40823cdf5f398f0471212d4646ad3b10510bf
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