Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, May 17, 1994 TAG: 9405170110
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B-1 VIRGINIA EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: RAY REED
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
F.D., Vinton
A: Presidents are fair game for criticism because they are the highest public officials and public figures.
Bill Clinton's only direct recourse is to grin and bear it. At most, he could issue a public denial, but spending too much time on a response would only elicit more criticism.
The Supreme Court has written that the First Amendment means we have a national commitment to uninhibited and robust debate of issues, and that it can include vehement and caustic attacks on public officials.
The only limits on these attacks are malice and known falsehood. Unless the publishing entity had malicous intent, or knew the accusations were false, there's no basis for a slander or libel suit.
Newspapers and all media operate under these freedoms but most do not take them as a license for defamatory statements or reckless disregard for the truth.
That's why some of the charges in the Falwell video have been reported heavily in the mainstream media, while others have been dismissed as innuendo from individuals without evidence.
Quick action pays
Q: Why are federal retirees more entitled to a refund on taxes they paid in the 1980s than any other retiree?
N.N., Roanoke
A: Essentially, federal employees filed a timely claim for a refund and others did not. Whether they're entitled to payment is a matter the courts and legislature still are weighing.
The Supreme Court ruled in 1989 that federal retirees had been taxed illegally. While the ruling was directed at Michigan, it implied Virginia had been unfair too.
Half a century ago, in a bit of cloudy reasoning, our legislators paid former state workers a smaller pension than other employers. To make up the difference, Virginia exempted these pensions from state taxes. About 20 other states did the same.
Some 45 years later, the Supreme Court ruled that dual tax systems were unfair. Federal retirees, 200,000 strong in Virginia and organized into associations of military officers or civil service workers, filed a lawsuit immediately seeking refunds back to 1985.
Retirees from private pension systems, in smaller groups and less organized, couldn't sue so fast.
The legislature did acknowledge quickly the system's unfairness to all retirees. A month after the Supreme Court ruling in March 1989, the General Assembly restructured taxes to exclude any levy on pensions of $16,000 or less - whether from government jobs or private employers.|
Got a question about something that might affect other people too? Something you've come across and wondered about? Give us a call at 981-3118. Maybe we can find the answer.
by CNB