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Mich. Comp. Laws § Article I § 19

This is the official text of Mich. Comp. Laws § Article I § 19, part of Michigan’s Comp. Laws — part of the compiled statutory law of Michigan, published by the state as "Comp. Laws." Browse the sections below, each linked to its official government source.

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Libels, truth as defense.

Official statutory text

Sec. 19.

In all prosecutions for libels the truth may be given in evidence to the jury; and, if it appears to the jury that the matter charged as libelous is true and was published with good motives and for justifiable ends, the accused shall be acquitted.

History: Const. 1963, Art. I, § 19, Eff. Jan 1. 1964

Status: in_force · Read it on the official government site

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About this page: Statute text is reproduced from official government publishers via the Open US Law dataset (Vaquill AI, snapshot v2026.08, CC BY 4.0). Primary legislative text like this is public domain under the government-edicts doctrine (Georgia v. Public.Resource.Org, 2020). We link every section back to its official source so you can verify it independently.