1 - Introduction

Summary

This chapter introduces the framework for the comparison between Massachusetts and Nova Scotia, the factors individuals confronted when they decided what type of proceeding to take over expression they disliked, the conceptual transition from the law concerning libels to libel law, the development of the defenses of privilege and truth, the emergence of the idea that obscene texts could be prosecuted as criminal libels, and the establishment of the courtroom as the site where individual claims to freedom of speech and conscience were brought in Massachusetts – but not Nova Scotia – against a backdrop of majoritarian violence.