Chapter LVIII. *in Reference to Prosecutions for Libel in the District of Columbia.* Feb. 25, 1865. *Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,* That in all prosecutions or In libel suits, &c., in the District of Columbia, the truth may be given
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Chap. LVIII.— An Act *in Reference to Prosecutions for Libel in the District of Columbia.* Feb. 25, 1865. *Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,* That in all prosecutions or In libel suits, &c., in the District of Columbia, the truth may be given in evidence.indictments for libel instituted, or which may hereafter be instituted, in the District of Columbia, the truth thereof may be given in evidence under the general issue as a justification of the alleged libel; and if it appear that the matter charged as libel[l] ous was true, and was written or published with good motives and for justifiable ends, the defendant shall be acquitted.
Approved, February 25, 1865.