Three messages...

                                1.

Submitted by:   Kenneth F. Ledford
                kxl15@po.cwru.edu

Prof. Tanner is absolutely right in pointing out that many
homeowners'/renters' insurance policies, and many standard umbrella
liability riders, do not cover either professional liability or
intentional torts.  But this is HIGHLY variable, among insurance
companies, and among states in the US.  So check your policy, and check
with your insurance agent if you want coverage that would protect you from
defamation suits caused by your professional publications. But let me
amplify my comments on insurance policies.

First, you can BUY professional liability coverage, either from your
homeowners'/renters' carrier or a specialty carrier.  Since these are
rated on risk, and the risk of historians being sued is low, the premium
should be low (I don't know; I don't have one).  An independent insurance
agent could help you.

Second, professional associations sometimes arrange to offer professional
liability coverage.  My wife is a Presbyterian minister, and clergy of all
sorts have been subject to an increasing number of "malpractice" suits, so
we carry coverage for her at a modest cost through her denomination.  The
principal rated concern here and in other professional liability coverage
is sexual misconduct, but her policy would cover defamation as well.
Check with the AAUP (I am not a member, so I don't know if they provide
this), or we could lobby with the AHA to contract with a carrier to
provide this.

Third, and least satisfactory, there are "libel and slander" policies,
usually targetted at authors like Kitty Kelley, tailored to individual
publications and rated upon the judgment of the carrier as to the risks of
a particular piece.  These are more expensive than most of us would want
to pay, especially for a journal article or review for which we receive no
monetary payment.  But the coverage can be had if the author really wants
it.

Fourth, and this was my original point, publishing professional
scholarship in the US carries LITTLE RISK of a defamation action, because
of the line of cases beginning with New York Times v. Sullivan.  Thus, I
judge the risk so low that I do not concern myself too much about
insurance coverage for defamation (granted, I write about safely dead
people in the 19th and early 20th centuries, but I also write about live
authors, and I have reviewed Goldhagen's book).  Thus I urge us to carry
on DESPITE this unusual incident.  Almost ALL of the insurances listed
above would exclude coverage for suits in foreign countries anyway, and
thus would not help us against a suit in England.  So I am serious that
the risk-averse among us might not want to publish criticism in England.

FINALLY, I would like the list to get on to what I think is the more
important question right now: what can we as a community of scholars do to
express our support for, or render material aid to, Dr. Birn?  A number of
options are open to us: we could urge the Conference Group for Central
European History, the German Studies Association, even the AHA to make
public statements; we could write open letters or letters to the editor, to
Historical Journal and elsewhere; we could even (if Dr. Birn is agreeable)
start a legal defense fund.  I urge creative minds out there, particularly
the more senior and notable among our number, to contribute suggestions to
H-German and other professional institutions.

Ken Ledford

Kenneth F. Ledford                              1997-98 ADDRESS
Associate Professor of History and Law          bei Nahr
Department of History                           Kalckreuthstrasse 11
Case Western Reserve University                 D-10777 Berlin
Cleveland, Ohio  44106-7107                     GERMANY
Office: (216) 368-4144                          (0 11 49)(30) 218 79 13
Fax: (216) 368-4681

                                2.

Submitted by:   David A. Brenner
                brenner@spot.colorado.edu

If you are really serious about seeking a liability rider, you might
inquire with the AAUP, American Association of University Professors.  I'm
certain that they have dealt with such issues.

David A. Brenner
Mellon Postdoctoral Fellow
Department of German Studies
Cornell University
183 Goldwin Smith Hall
Ithaca, NY 14853

                                3.

Submitted by:   Guenter Bischof
                GJBHI@jazz.ucc.uno.edu

I think you're raising crucial issues -- the important precedent to a
possible lawsuit by Goldhagen would be the Tolstoy affair. Some people
still alive whom Tolstoy attacked for being co-responsible for the
handover of Cossacks et al. to Stalin and Tito sued Tolstoy in a British
court and won the libel suit and a very high award along with it.

You can read a summary of this by Thomas Barker in Bischof/Ambrose (eds)
Eisenhower and the German POWs: Facts against Falsehood (LSU Press 1992).

Professor Goldhagen gave a talk in New Orleans this past Sunday night.
He summarized the findings of his book. When asked about his critics he
responded that they were "inventing" charges against him and misrepresenting
his findings. He did not concede an inch and seemed to have the audience on
his side.

Guenter Bischof, University of New Orleans

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