LAD #2: John Peter Zenger

1.     John Peter Zenger was a German immigrant who arrived in New York from Germany in 1710. After serving his apprenticeship Zenger became the publisher of a New York newspaper, the New York Weekly Journal. In 1733, Zenger criticized New York Governor William Cosby after he prosecuted his fellow interim Governor Rip Van Dam and Chief Justice Lewis Morris. As a result of this he was arrested in 1734 for “seditious label” and was brought to trial in 1735.

2.     The charges brought before Zenger are controversial as Cosby displayed capricious and irrational behavior in his prosecution against Van Dam and Morris. This is because Cosby believed that these men were not paying him enough for his job. Hamilton later created further controversy in his defense by arguing that the prosecution’s evidence excluded the truth and that although Zenger’s stories were offensive, they cannot be considered a libel unless proven false. With this argument Zenger was declared not guilty.

3.     One such influence the trial had on governmental tradition was that it assured freedom of the press in America. This later evolved into the first amendment, which was enacted in 1791. In addition to this it set a precedent to protect to protect a citizen against judicial tyranny, or decisions made by officials unlawfully.

4.     The lasting significance of this trial was the recognition of freedom of the press. As exemplified today, several stories are published which are controversial and offensive to a subset of people. However, there is no action against the writers, as they have a different perspective on the story published. Also, the court system must now recognize that unless information is falsified and biased, no legal action can be taken.