The New York County Lawyers Association has adopted a resolution proposed by Max J. Kohler, a member, which seeks to amend the Civil Rights Law so that a libel on a particular race will be punishable by a fine not exceeding $500.
The bill is pending before the New York State Legislature. It provides for legal action against an attempt to “disseminate any propaganda, caricatures, statements whether written, printed or oral, which subjects any race to hatred, contempt, ridicule or obloquy, or which causes any person belonging to any particular race to be shunned or avoided.”
Mention is made in the resolution of the traditional immunity persons guilty of libeling a race or religious group have received in Anglo-Saxon countries. The American law makes provision for punishment of such libel only when the result is a breach of the peace.
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The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
