Qualified Privilege for FBI Crime Tips

QUESTIONS PRESENTED First Amendment constitutional protections for free speech, as applied by this Court in New York . : Times Co. us. Sullivan, 376 U.S. 254 (1964) require a federal rule that imposes liability for defamation on a ; : speaker who knowingly and maliciously relates a false . criminal report to law enforcement. The Majority Rule, as applied in 34 jurisdictions : (by 31 State courts and 3 Federal Circuits), grants a qualified privilege to relators of crime reports made in : good faith and without actual malice. Differently here, the Michigan Supreme Court followed the Minority Rule (adhered to in only 4 other States) upholding absolute immunity for a relator who ; knowingly and. maliciously makes a false crime report to the FBI. : The questions presented are: ; Qualified Privilege for FBI Crime Tips : Under the First Amendment, should there be a qualified privilege (instead of absolute immunity) for . relators who post FBI Internet online crime tips? : Liability for Maliciously False Tips Under the standard of qualified privilege, should . there be liability for relators who post FBI Internet crime tips when the “facts” posted are knowingly false ; ; or made with reckless disregard for truth or falsity? ;