From recent cases from Ken Ditkowsky:

Garrison v. State of LA

Where criticism of public officials is concerned, we see no merit in the argument that criminal libel statutes serve interests distinct from those secured by civil libel laws, and therefore should not be subject to the same limitations.3 At common law, truth was no defense to criminal *68 libel. Although the victim of a true but defamatory publication might not have been unjustly damaged in reputation by the libel, the speaker was still
punishable since the remedy was designed to avert the possibility that the utterance would provoke an enraged victim to a breach of peace. That argument is well stated in Edward Livingston’s explanation of the defamation provisions of his proposed penal code for Louisiana:

‘In most cases, the connexion between cause and effect exists between the subject of this chapter and that of a subsequent one—Of Duels. Defamation, either real or supposed, is the cause of most of those combats which no laws have yet been able to suppress. If lawgivers had originally condescended to pay some attention to the passions and feelings of those for whom they were to legislate, these appeals to arms would never have usurped a power superior to the laws; but by affording no satisfaction for the wounded feelings of honour, they drove individuals to avenge all wrongs of that description, denied a place in the code of criminal law. Insults formed a title in that of honour, which claimed exclusive jurisdiction of this offence.’ Livingston. A **213 System of Penal Law for the State of Louisiana
Moreover, even where the utterance is false, the great principles of the Constitution which secure freedom of expression in this area preclude attaching adverse consequences to any except the knowing or reckless falsehood. Debate on public issues will not be uninhibited if the speaker must run the risk that it will be proved in court that he spoke out of hatred; even if he did speak out of hatred, utterances honestly believed contribute to the free interchange of ideas and the ascertainment of truth. Under a rule like the Louisiana rule, permitting a finding of malice based on an intent merely to inflict harm, rather than an intent to inflict harm through falsehood, ‘it becomes a hazardous matter to speak out against a popular politician, with the result that the dishonest and incompetent will be shielded.’ Noel, Defamation *74 of Public Officers and Candidates, 49 Col.L.Rev. 875, 893 (1949). Moreover, ‘(i)n the case of charges against a popular political figure * * * it may be almost impossible to show freedom from ill-will or selfish political motives.’ Id., at 893, n. 90. Similar considerations supported our holdings that federal officers enjoy an absolute privilege for defamatory publication within the scope of official duty, regardless of the existence of malice in the sense of ill-will. Barr v. Matteo, 360 U.S. 564, 79 S.Ct. 1335, 3 L.Ed.2d 1434; Howard v. Lyons, 360 U.S. 593, 79 S.Ct. 1331, 3 L.Ed.2d 1454; cf. Gregoire v. Biddle, 177 F.2d 579 (C.A.2d Cir. 1949). What we said of Alabama’s civil libel law in New York Times, 376 U.S., at 282—283, 84 S.Ct., at 727, applies equally to the Louisiana criminal libel rule: ‘It would give public servants an unjustified preference over the public they serve, if critics of official conduct did not have a fair equivalent of the immunity granted to the officials themselves.’
Truth may not be the subject of either civil or criminal sanctions where discussion of public affairs is concerned. And since ‘* * * erroneous statement is inevitable in free debate, and * *
it must be protected if the freedoms of expression are to have the ‘breathing space’ that they ‘need * * * to survive’ * * *,’ 376 U.S., at 271—272, 84 S.Ct. at 721, only those false statements made with the high degree of awareness of their probable falsity demanded by New York Times may be the subject of either civil or criminal sanctions. For speech concerning public affairs is *75 more than self-expression; it is the essence of self-government. The First and Fourteenth Amendments embody our ‘profound national commitment to the principle that debate on public issues should be uninhibited, robust, and wide-open, and that it may well include vehement, caustic, and sometimes unpleasantly sharp attacks on government and public officials.’ New York Times Co. v. Sullivan, 376 U.S., at 270, 84 S.Ct., at 721.
[10] [11] The use of calculated falsehood, however, would put a different cast on the constitutional question. Although honest utterance, even if inaccurate, may further the fruitful exercise of the right of free speech, it does not follow that the lie, knowingly and deliberately published about a public official, should enjoy a like immunity.
Hence the knowingly false statement and the false statement made with reckless disregard of the truth, do not enjoy constitutional protection.

And ‘actual malice’ is defined in the decisions below to mean ‘hatred, ill will or enmity or a wanton desire to injure * * *.’ 244 La., at 851, 154 So.2d at 423.
The statute is also unconstitutional as interpreted to cover false statements against public officials.

Justice Goldberg point out that “ the Constitution accords citizens and press an unconditional freedom to criticize official conduct.’ “   Garrison v. State of La., 379 U.S. 64, 88, 85 S. Ct. 209, 223, 13 L. Ed. 2d 125 (1964)

Judges are elected officials;
“Manifestly a candidate must surrender to public scrutiny and discussion so much of his private character as affects his fitness for office, and the liberal rule requires no more. But, in measuring the extent of a candidate’s profert of character, it should always be remembered that the people have good authority for believing that grapes do not grow on thorns, nor figs on thistles.’ 78 Kan. 711, 739, 98 P. 281, 291, 20 L.R.A.,N.S., 361 (1908).”Garrison v. State of La., 379 U.S. 64, 77, 85 S. Ct. 209, 217, 13 L. Ed. 2d 125 (1964)