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Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code § 73.005

TRUTH A DEFENSE

Applied in 45 court decisions — leading case Bentley v. Bunton (2002)

Most recently applied in Scripps Np Operating, LLC, a Wisconsin Limited Liability Company, Successor in Interest to Scripps Texas Newspapers, Lp D/B/A Corpus Christi Caller-Times v. Terry Carter (May 2019)

Acts 1985, 69th Leg., ch. 959, Sec. 1, eff

How often courts cite this section

199420002010201950
citing decisions per year

Court decisions citing this, by year. The dip in the last several years is a data-coverage gap, not a real trend — our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so recent citations are undercounted.

(a) The truth of the statement in the publication on which an action for libel is based is a defense to the action.

(b) In an action brought against a newspaper or other periodical or broadcaster, the defense described by Subsection (a) applies to an accurate reporting of allegations made by a third party regarding a matter of public concern.

(c) This section does not abrogate or lessen any other remedy, right, cause of action, defense, immunity, or privilege available under the Constitution of the United States or this state or as provided by any statute, case, or common law or rule.

Official source: Texas Constitution and Statutes. Reproduced from public-domain Texas statutes; confirm against the official source for the current text. Not legal advice.