People v. Croswell
Encyclopedia
The People of the State of New York v. Harry Croswell (3 Johns. Cas. 337 N.Y. 1804), commonly known and cited as People v. Croswell, is an important case in the evolution of United States defamation law
. It was a criminal libel
case brought against a journalist named Harry Croswell for his statements maligning a number of public officials, including then-President Thomas Jefferson
.
Croswell was initially convicted in Columbia County
court, where the jury was instructed
to consider only the question of fact before them, as to whether Croswell had been the one to publish the statements at issue under a pseudonym
. He appealed to the Supreme Court of New York, then the state's highest court, for a new trial on several issues including those instructions. In a famous and lengthy argument on Croswell's behalf, Alexander Hamilton
tried to convince the judges that truthful statements should not be considered defamatory, regardless of what they concerned.
The judges deadlocked and Croswell's conviction stood, although he was never sentenced or retried. The following year the issue became legally moot as the New York State Legislature wrote Hamilton's argument into the state's libel law, breaking with English precedent
under which the truthfulness of the statements alone is not a defense. Other states and the federal government followed suit. Since then it has been a cornerstone of American law on the subject that truthful statements are not actionable.
from his native Catskill
to the growing port city of Hudson
. A strong sympathizer with the Federalist
Party of then-president John Adams
, he took a job writing for the Balance and Columbian Repository, a newspaper of similar political leanings.
Around the same time, another journalist, Charles Holt, had come to Hudson, in his case from Connecticut
. His sympathies were as strongly with the opposing Democratic-Republican Party, usually known as Republicans, of Thomas Jefferson
as Croswell's were with the Federalists. The two parties were often at odds, attempting to convince the public that their respective visions of the new nation and policies were the best, and that those of the other party were flawed and would lead to disaster and tyranny. To this end, Holt came to Hudson to start The Bee, meant to counteract the influence of the Balance.
When Croswell heard about this, he convinced his own editor at the Balance to let him start The Wasp, a small sheet which was dedicated to attacking and antagonizing Holt and disparaging Republican politicians and Jefferson. Croswell wrote under the pseudonym
of "Robert Rusticoat". The two newspapers engaged in vicious exchanges over several months.
, a New York City newspaper founded by Alexander Hamilton
. Holt had mocked the Federalists' claims against Jefferson's character, saying the worst they could say about him was that he had paid a fellow Virginian, James Thompson Callender, to attack the Adams administration in print. "This is wholly false", Croswell responded. Federalists had, in fact, been charging that Jefferson had paid Callender not only to attack Adams but to call the late George Washington
"a traitor, robber and perjurer
... and for most grossly slandering the private characters of men who, he well knew, were virtuous". No supporter of Jefferson's, he claimed, had ever responded, or would respond, to this charge "in an open manly discussion."
Ambrose Spencer
, New York's Attorney General, took notice. Jefferson, a critic of the Alien and Sedition Acts
passed under the previous administration, was encouraging the use of similar state laws against his many critics. Spencer, a former Federalist himself whose party switch had helped get DeWitt Clinton
elected governor in 1798, and the target of one of Croswell's attacks in that same issue of The Wasp, went before the Columbia County
grand jury
and got an indictment
of Croswell on two charges of criminal libel and sedition
. The defendant was accused of:
In January of 1803, Croswell was arrested and brought to the county courthouse
in Claverack
, at that time the county seat
. After the indictment was read, his attorney requested a copy of the allegedly slanderous documents, but was denied. He also requested that the court continue
the trial until Callender could be brought from Virginia to testify to the truth of the allegations.
That, too, was denied, and the trial began in July, with prominent anti-Federalist
Supreme Court Justice Morgan Lewis
presiding. Spencer prosecuted the case personally. Croswell, represented pro bono
by a team of prominent attorneys, including William Peter Van Ness
, pleaded not guilty to both charges. Lewis instructed
the jury to consider only the question of whether or not Croswell had, beyond reasonable doubt
, indeed published the statements. He was convicted on both counts.
, who had been unavailable to argue for Croswell at the trial, made a six-hour statement on his behalf. He built his appeal on three points:
On the second point, Hamilton discoursed at great length, summarized in the opinion. Roman law
had recognized truth as a defense to charges of libel; why had the English common law, from which the laws of New York derived, abandoned that, he asked. He found his answer in the Star Chamber
, the secret medieval court that existed to try to punish those too powerful to submit to ordinary justice. "That is not the court from which we are to expect principles and precedents friendly to freedom," he observed. Hamilton concluded:
James Kent
agreed with Hamilton in a lengthy review of English law. The jury should have been allowed to consider the law of the case despite recent uncertainty in England as to whether that was sound in libel prosecutions. English law in the time of the Star Chamber had disallowed truth as a defense, saying "The reason assigned for the punishment of libels, whether true or false, is because they tend to a breach of the peace, by inciting the libelled party to revenge, or the people to sedition." But that, Kent held, had led to an overly tame English press, and laws in the new nation had already been tending toward allowing the truth, if justified, as a defense to a libel charge.
Justice Thompson concurred, but Lewis and the other justice concluded that the same English authorities required they affirm the conviction. The tie vote meant the conviction stood. But Croswell was never sentenced, and though he was eventually granted a new trial it never occurred. Thus the case was never disposed.
wrote Hamilton's position into law: that it was always lawful for a libel defendant to introduce in his defense that the statements at issue were true, in order to justify it. This was written into the state constitution in 1821. In the meantime, similar provisions had also been added to the laws and constitutions of other states, some allowing even greater latitude. In 1809, the Pennsylvania General Assembly
went the furthest in that direction, enacting into statute the provision that the truth of the charge alone was a sufficient defense in any criminal libel trial where the target of the alleged libel was an officeholder.
During the appeal, Hamilton had stayed with a friend in Albany, John Taylor. Over dinner one night with the Taylor family he made some cutting remarks about Aaron Burr
, his political rival. Charles D. Cooper
, also in attendance, reported them later in the year, just days before the state's gubernatorial election. Burr lost, and, blaming his defeat on Hamilton, challenged him to the duel
which later cost Hamilton his life.
Since many states later repealed their criminal libel statutes, the standard adopted for civil cases, where truth alone was a defense, became the standard for libel in the United States. A century and a half after Kent's commentary, the U.S. Supreme Court began distinguishing between public and private figures in defamation actions. In cases such as New York Times Co. v. Sullivan
, Curtis Publishing Co. v. Butts
, Associated Press v. Walker and Gertz v. Robert Welch, Inc.
, it afforded the media greater latitude, through the actual malice
test, when challenged over allegedly false and defamatory statements by public figures than private ones.
Britain, as well as many of its former colonies, retains a libel standard
where truthful statements with negative import must still be justified by some higher purpose to overcome a libel claim. In the 21st century, the Internet
lessened the effect of international borders on the flow of information. This created some international issues when wealthy individuals filed suit against American authors in British courts alleging defamation. Some American states, including New York, have passed laws insulating their residents against what has been called libel tourism
.
United States defamation law
The origins of United States defamation law pre-date the American Revolution; one famous 1734 case involving John Peter Zenger established some precedent that the truth should be an absolute defense against libel charges. Though the First Amendment of the U.S...
. It was a criminal libel
Criminal libel
Criminal libel is a legal term, of English origin, which may be used with one of two distinct meanings, in those common law jurisdictions where it is still used....
case brought against a journalist named Harry Croswell for his statements maligning a number of public officials, including then-President Thomas Jefferson
Thomas Jefferson
Thomas Jefferson was the principal author of the United States Declaration of Independence and the Statute of Virginia for Religious Freedom , the third President of the United States and founder of the University of Virginia...
.
Croswell was initially convicted in Columbia County
Columbia County, New York
Columbia County is a county located in the U.S. state of New York. As of the 2010 census, the population was 63,096. The county seat is Hudson. The name comes from the Latin feminine form of the name of Christopher Columbus, which was at the time of the formation of the county a popular proposal...
court, where the jury was instructed
Jury instructions
Jury instructions are the set of legal rules that jurors should follow when the jury is deciding a civil or criminal case. Jury instructions are given to the jury by the jury instructor, who usually reads them aloud to the jury...
to consider only the question of fact before them, as to whether Croswell had been the one to publish the statements at issue under a pseudonym
Pseudonym
A pseudonym is a name that a person assumes for a particular purpose and that differs from his or her original orthonym...
. He appealed to the Supreme Court of New York, then the state's highest court, for a new trial on several issues including those instructions. In a famous and lengthy argument on Croswell's behalf, Alexander Hamilton
Alexander Hamilton
Alexander Hamilton was a Founding Father, soldier, economist, political philosopher, one of America's first constitutional lawyers and the first United States Secretary of the Treasury...
tried to convince the judges that truthful statements should not be considered defamatory, regardless of what they concerned.
The judges deadlocked and Croswell's conviction stood, although he was never sentenced or retried. The following year the issue became legally moot as the New York State Legislature wrote Hamilton's argument into the state's libel law, breaking with English precedent
English defamation law
Modern libel and slander laws, as implemented in many Commonwealth nations as well as in the United States and in the Republic of Ireland, are originally descended from English defamation law...
under which the truthfulness of the statements alone is not a defense. Other states and the federal government followed suit. Since then it has been a cornerstone of American law on the subject that truthful statements are not actionable.
Background of the case
In 1801 the 22-year-old Harry Croswell moved across the Hudson RiverHudson River
The Hudson is a river that flows from north to south through eastern New York. The highest official source is at Lake Tear of the Clouds, on the slopes of Mount Marcy in the Adirondack Mountains. The river itself officially begins in Henderson Lake in Newcomb, New York...
from his native Catskill
Catskill (village), New York
Catskill is a village in Greene County, New York, USA. The population was 4,081 at the 2010 census.The Village of Catskill is in the northeast part of the Town of Catskill. Catskill is the county seat of Greene County.-History:...
to the growing port city of Hudson
Hudson, New York
Hudson is a city located along the west border of Columbia County, New York, United States. The city is named after the adjacent Hudson River and ultimately after the explorer Henry Hudson.Hudson is the county seat of Columbia County...
. A strong sympathizer with the Federalist
Federalist Party (United States)
The Federalist Party was the first American political party, from the early 1790s to 1816, the era of the First Party System, with remnants lasting into the 1820s. The Federalists controlled the federal government until 1801...
Party of then-president John Adams
John Adams
John Adams was an American lawyer, statesman, diplomat and political theorist. A leading champion of independence in 1776, he was the second President of the United States...
, he took a job writing for the Balance and Columbian Repository, a newspaper of similar political leanings.
Around the same time, another journalist, Charles Holt, had come to Hudson, in his case from Connecticut
Connecticut
Connecticut is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, and the state of New York to the west and the south .Connecticut is named for the Connecticut River, the major U.S. river that approximately...
. His sympathies were as strongly with the opposing Democratic-Republican Party, usually known as Republicans, of Thomas Jefferson
Thomas Jefferson
Thomas Jefferson was the principal author of the United States Declaration of Independence and the Statute of Virginia for Religious Freedom , the third President of the United States and founder of the University of Virginia...
as Croswell's were with the Federalists. The two parties were often at odds, attempting to convince the public that their respective visions of the new nation and policies were the best, and that those of the other party were flawed and would lead to disaster and tyranny. To this end, Holt came to Hudson to start The Bee, meant to counteract the influence of the Balance.
When Croswell heard about this, he convinced his own editor at the Balance to let him start The Wasp, a small sheet which was dedicated to attacking and antagonizing Holt and disparaging Republican politicians and Jefferson. Croswell wrote under the pseudonym
Pseudonym
A pseudonym is a name that a person assumes for a particular purpose and that differs from his or her original orthonym...
of "Robert Rusticoat". The two newspapers engaged in vicious exchanges over several months.
Trial
In September of 1898 Croswell repeated a charge against Jefferson that had first appeared in the Evening PostNew York Post
The New York Post is the 13th-oldest newspaper published in the United States and is generally acknowledged as the oldest to have been published continuously as a daily, although – as is the case with most other papers – its publication has been periodically interrupted by labor actions...
, a New York City newspaper founded by Alexander Hamilton
Alexander Hamilton
Alexander Hamilton was a Founding Father, soldier, economist, political philosopher, one of America's first constitutional lawyers and the first United States Secretary of the Treasury...
. Holt had mocked the Federalists' claims against Jefferson's character, saying the worst they could say about him was that he had paid a fellow Virginian, James Thompson Callender, to attack the Adams administration in print. "This is wholly false", Croswell responded. Federalists had, in fact, been charging that Jefferson had paid Callender not only to attack Adams but to call the late George Washington
George Washington
George Washington was the dominant military and political leader of the new United States of America from 1775 to 1799. He led the American victory over Great Britain in the American Revolutionary War as commander-in-chief of the Continental Army from 1775 to 1783, and presided over the writing of...
"a traitor, robber and perjurer
Perjury
Perjury, also known as forswearing, is the willful act of swearing a false oath or affirmation to tell the truth, whether spoken or in writing, concerning matters material to a judicial proceeding. That is, the witness falsely promises to tell the truth about matters which affect the outcome of the...
... and for most grossly slandering the private characters of men who, he well knew, were virtuous". No supporter of Jefferson's, he claimed, had ever responded, or would respond, to this charge "in an open manly discussion."
Ambrose Spencer
Ambrose Spencer
Ambrose Spencer was an American lawyer and politician.-Life:He attended Yale College from 1779 to 1782, and graduated from Harvard University in 1783...
, New York's Attorney General, took notice. Jefferson, a critic of the Alien and Sedition Acts
Alien and Sedition Acts
The Alien and Sedition Acts were four bills passed in 1798 by the Federalists in the 5th United States Congress in the aftermath of the French Revolution's reign of terror and during an undeclared naval war with France, later known as the Quasi-War. They were signed into law by President John Adams...
passed under the previous administration, was encouraging the use of similar state laws against his many critics. Spencer, a former Federalist himself whose party switch had helped get DeWitt Clinton
DeWitt Clinton
DeWitt Clinton was an early American politician and naturalist who served as United States Senator and the sixth Governor of New York. In this last capacity he was largely responsible for the construction of the Erie Canal...
elected governor in 1798, and the target of one of Croswell's attacks in that same issue of The Wasp, went before the Columbia County
Columbia County, New York
Columbia County is a county located in the U.S. state of New York. As of the 2010 census, the population was 63,096. The county seat is Hudson. The name comes from the Latin feminine form of the name of Christopher Columbus, which was at the time of the formation of the county a popular proposal...
grand jury
Grand jury
A grand jury is a type of jury that determines whether a criminal indictment will issue. Currently, only the United States retains grand juries, although some other common law jurisdictions formerly employed them, and most other jurisdictions employ some other type of preliminary hearing...
and got an indictment
Indictment
An indictment , in the common-law legal system, is a formal accusation that a person has committed a crime. In jurisdictions that maintain the concept of felonies, the serious criminal offence is a felony; jurisdictions that lack the concept of felonies often use that of an indictable offence—an...
of Croswell on two charges of criminal libel and sedition
Sedition
In law, sedition is overt conduct, such as speech and organization, that is deemed by the legal authority to tend toward insurrection against the established order. Sedition often includes subversion of a constitution and incitement of discontent to lawful authority. Sedition may include any...
. The defendant was accused of:
In January of 1803, Croswell was arrested and brought to the county courthouse
First Columbia County Courthouse
The First Columbia County Courthouse is located along NY 23B near the center of the hamlet of Claverack, New York, United States. It is a brick building in the Federal style constructed in 1786 and renovated in the mid-19th century....
in Claverack
Claverack-Red Mills, New York
Claverack-Red Mills is a census-designated place in Columbia County, New York, United States. The population was 913 at the 2010 census....
, at that time the county seat
County seat
A county seat is an administrative center, or seat of government, for a county or civil parish. The term is primarily used in the United States....
. After the indictment was read, his attorney requested a copy of the allegedly slanderous documents, but was denied. He also requested that the court continue
Continuance
In American procedural law, a continuance is the postponement of a hearing, trial, or other scheduled court proceeding at the request of either or both parties in the dispute, or by the judge sua sponte. In response to delays in bringing cases to trial, some states have adopted "fast-track" rules...
the trial until Callender could be brought from Virginia to testify to the truth of the allegations.
That, too, was denied, and the trial began in July, with prominent anti-Federalist
Anti-Federalism
Anti-Federalism refers to a movement that opposed the creation of a stronger U.S. federal government and which later opposed the ratification of the Constitution of 1787. The previous constitution, called the Articles of Confederation, gave state governments more authority...
Supreme Court Justice Morgan Lewis
Morgan Lewis (governor)
Morgan Lewis was an American lawyer, politician and military commander.Of Welsh descent, he was the son of Francis Lewis, a signer of the Declaration of Independence. He graduated from Princeton in 1773 and began to study law on the advice of his father...
presiding. Spencer prosecuted the case personally. Croswell, represented pro bono
Pro bono
Pro bono publico is a Latin phrase generally used to describe professional work undertaken voluntarily and without payment or at a reduced fee as a public service. It is common in the legal profession and is increasingly seen in marketing, technology, and strategy consulting firms...
by a team of prominent attorneys, including William Peter Van Ness
William Peter Van Ness
William Peter Van Ness was a United States federal judge.-Early Life and education:Born in Ghent, New York, Van Ness was the son of Judge Peter Van Ness . Peter Van Ness was a wealthy lawyer and farmer, and was the owner of the property on which William P. Van Ness constructed a mansion in 1797...
, pleaded not guilty to both charges. Lewis instructed
Jury instructions
Jury instructions are the set of legal rules that jurors should follow when the jury is deciding a civil or criminal case. Jury instructions are given to the jury by the jury instructor, who usually reads them aloud to the jury...
the jury to consider only the question of whether or not Croswell had, beyond reasonable doubt
Reasonable doubt
Proof beyond a reasonable doubt is the standard of evidence required to validate a criminal conviction in most adversarial legal systems . Generally the prosecution bears the burden of proof and is required to prove their version of events to this standard...
, indeed published the statements. He was convicted on both counts.
Appeal
The Supreme Court heard the appeal on February 13, 1804. Alexander HamiltonAlexander Hamilton
Alexander Hamilton was a Founding Father, soldier, economist, political philosopher, one of America's first constitutional lawyers and the first United States Secretary of the Treasury...
, who had been unavailable to argue for Croswell at the trial, made a six-hour statement on his behalf. He built his appeal on three points:
- That the trial judge had erred in disallowing the continuance requested to allow Callender to testify;
- that the allegedly libelous statements were so substantially and materially different from what had previously been published in the Post as to not constitute libel, and
- that the judge erred in instructing the jury to consider only the facts of the case.
On the second point, Hamilton discoursed at great length, summarized in the opinion. Roman law
Roman law
Roman law is the legal system of ancient Rome, and the legal developments which occurred before the 7th century AD — when the Roman–Byzantine state adopted Greek as the language of government. The development of Roman law comprises more than a thousand years of jurisprudence — from the Twelve...
had recognized truth as a defense to charges of libel; why had the English common law, from which the laws of New York derived, abandoned that, he asked. He found his answer in the Star Chamber
Star Chamber
The Star Chamber was an English court of law that sat at the royal Palace of Westminster until 1641. It was made up of Privy Counsellors, as well as common-law judges and supplemented the activities of the common-law and equity courts in both civil and criminal matters...
, the secret medieval court that existed to try to punish those too powerful to submit to ordinary justice. "That is not the court from which we are to expect principles and precedents friendly to freedom," he observed. Hamilton concluded:
James Kent
James Kent
James Kent was an American jurist and legal scholar.-Life:...
agreed with Hamilton in a lengthy review of English law. The jury should have been allowed to consider the law of the case despite recent uncertainty in England as to whether that was sound in libel prosecutions. English law in the time of the Star Chamber had disallowed truth as a defense, saying "The reason assigned for the punishment of libels, whether true or false, is because they tend to a breach of the peace, by inciting the libelled party to revenge, or the people to sedition." But that, Kent held, had led to an overly tame English press, and laws in the new nation had already been tending toward allowing the truth, if justified, as a defense to a libel charge.
Justice Thompson concurred, but Lewis and the other justice concluded that the same English authorities required they affirm the conviction. The tie vote meant the conviction stood. But Croswell was never sentenced, and though he was eventually granted a new trial it never occurred. Thus the case was never disposed.
Aftermath
In 1805 the New York LegislatureNew York Legislature
The New York State Legislature is the term often used to refer to the two houses that act as the state legislature of the U.S. state of New York. The New York Constitution does not designate an official term for the two houses together...
wrote Hamilton's position into law: that it was always lawful for a libel defendant to introduce in his defense that the statements at issue were true, in order to justify it. This was written into the state constitution in 1821. In the meantime, similar provisions had also been added to the laws and constitutions of other states, some allowing even greater latitude. In 1809, the Pennsylvania General Assembly
Pennsylvania General Assembly
The Pennsylvania General Assembly is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. The legislature convenes in the State Capitol building in Harrisburg. In colonial times , the legislature was known as the Pennsylvania Provincial Assembly. Since the Constitution of 1776, written by...
went the furthest in that direction, enacting into statute the provision that the truth of the charge alone was a sufficient defense in any criminal libel trial where the target of the alleged libel was an officeholder.
During the appeal, Hamilton had stayed with a friend in Albany, John Taylor. Over dinner one night with the Taylor family he made some cutting remarks about Aaron Burr
Aaron Burr
Aaron Burr, Jr. was an important political figure in the early history of the United States of America. After serving as a Continental Army officer in the Revolutionary War, Burr became a successful lawyer and politician...
, his political rival. Charles D. Cooper
Charles D. Cooper
Charles DeKay Cooper was an American physician, lawyer and Democratic-Republican politician.-Life:...
, also in attendance, reported them later in the year, just days before the state's gubernatorial election. Burr lost, and, blaming his defeat on Hamilton, challenged him to the duel
Hamilton-Burr duel
The Burr–Hamilton duel was a duel between two prominent American politicians, the former Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton and sitting Vice President Aaron Burr, on July 11, 1804. At Weehawken in New Jersey, Burr shot and fatally wounded Hamilton. Hamilton was carried to the home of...
which later cost Hamilton his life.
Legacy
Twenty years later, James Kent observed that courts had begun applying that standard to all civil defamation actions, regardless of who the plaintiff was. "If the charge, in its substance and measure, be true in point of fact, the law considers the plaintiff as coming into court without any equitable title to relief." He felt that a distinction still needed to be drawn between those in the public trust and others, with those accused of libel in the latter instance still required to justify their publication of defamatory, yet true, facts about those individuals.Since many states later repealed their criminal libel statutes, the standard adopted for civil cases, where truth alone was a defense, became the standard for libel in the United States. A century and a half after Kent's commentary, the U.S. Supreme Court began distinguishing between public and private figures in defamation actions. In cases such as New York Times Co. v. Sullivan
New York Times Co. v. Sullivan
New York Times Co. v. Sullivan, 376 U.S. 254 , was a United States Supreme Court case which established the actual malice standard which has to be met before press reports about public officials or public figures can be considered to be defamation and libel; and hence allowed free reporting of the...
, Curtis Publishing Co. v. Butts
Curtis Publishing Co. v. Butts
Curtis Publishing Co. v. Butts, 388 U.S. 130 , was a case in which the Supreme Court of the United States established the standard of First Amendment protection against defamation claims brought by private individuals....
, Associated Press v. Walker and Gertz v. Robert Welch, Inc.
Gertz v. Robert Welch, Inc.
Gertz v. Robert Welch, Inc., 418 U.S. 323 , was a case in which the Supreme Court of the United States established the standard of First Amendment protection against defamation claims brought by private individuals...
, it afforded the media greater latitude, through the actual malice
Actual malice
Actual malice in United States law is a condition required to establish libel against public officials or public figures and is defined as "knowledge that the information was false" or that it was published "with reckless disregard of whether it was false or not." Reckless disregard does not...
test, when challenged over allegedly false and defamatory statements by public figures than private ones.
Britain, as well as many of its former colonies, retains a libel standard
English defamation law
Modern libel and slander laws, as implemented in many Commonwealth nations as well as in the United States and in the Republic of Ireland, are originally descended from English defamation law...
where truthful statements with negative import must still be justified by some higher purpose to overcome a libel claim. In the 21st century, the Internet
Internet
The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...
lessened the effect of international borders on the flow of information. This created some international issues when wealthy individuals filed suit against American authors in British courts alleging defamation. Some American states, including New York, have passed laws insulating their residents against what has been called libel tourism
Libel tourism
Libel tourism is a term first coined by Geoffrey Robertson to describe forum shopping for libel suits. It particularly refers to the practice of pursuing a case in England and Wales, in preference to other jurisdictions, such as the United States, which provide more extensive defences for those...
.