Date: Tue, 18 Nov 1997 11:06:55 EST From: sssssss-tink Subject: FILLER: Splitting Hairs (Homicide, Murder, and Manslaughter) "Anglo-American codes classify homicides in two or more separate crimes, each crime carrying its own penalty, which can be varied within limits by the sentencing authority. Thus, murder is a homicide committed intentionally or as a result of the commission of another serious offense. The crime of manslaughter includes killings that are the result of recklessness or a violent emotional outburst, as when the killer is provoked by the victim. The penalty for murder may be death or confinement for life, whereas the penalty for manslaughter is usually a maximum number of years in confinement." From "homicide." Britannica Online. I did some brief spelunking on the web and found that there does seem to be quite a bit of legalese to the effect that manslaughter is NOT murder (although both involve the death of someone, and both are homicides--one reference also noted that in some jurisdictions "reckless homicide" is neither manslaughter nor murder, along with the various justified homicide categories). as for whether something is considered defamatory or not (in American law), see http://web.mit.edu/mbarker/www/writers/tech970528.txt The main points: 1. the writing must be made to someone else (posting on the list does that) 2. the writing must be the type that generally affects reputation (hum...does our list chatter generally make or break reputations?) 3. it must in fact affect reputation (I beg to doubt that our list chatter will fill this bill) Strange hair on that legal dog...maybe someone should take them out and shampoo them? What do you do for split ends? tink