Florida proposes to really ‘open up’ defamation law

Efforts to reform or, in the words of former President Donald J. Trump, “open up” defamation law are not new, though they tend to collide with the Supreme Court’s long-established precedent on the topic, which aims to protect robust public debate and enjoys support across the ideological spectrum.

In Florida, however, legislators are trying once again, and in earnest. Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis recently held a roundtable on defamation law, with panelists who decried the high constitutional bar powerful plaintiffs must clear to win defamation suits. And, in the past two weeks,...