A question of the first amendment...

[shanek]

Is that a statement about the existing law as you understand it or is that a statement about how the law should be?

It's a statement about what the First Amendment says, which is the only law brought up for discussion here. I'm perfectly aware that there are many laws violating it.

I assume that by "contains" you mean something like "makes" or "asserts." In order to establish that some claims are fraudulent, an author may need to fully identify them by including them in the book.

Yeah, basically. You understand what I mean. James Randi isn't actually making any fraudulent claims in his books because, although he states the claim, he goes on to debunk it.

A more substantive issue: can one be prosecuted for fraud if one is not actually attempting to gain something by fraudulent means?

I guess theoretically he could, but there wouldn't be any actual damages to recover, I wouldn't think. He'd actually have to be taking people's money.

Should it be illegal to advertise Stephen Wolfram's book A New Kind of Science with words such as "whole new way of looking at the operation of our universe"?

I don't know the book you're referring to, but offhand, I'd say "no," as it may actually be a "whole new way of looking at the operation of our universe," just not a correct "way of looking at the operation of our universe." Being wrong is not the same as committing fraud.

 

[The idea]

Yes, no question. If his book contains fraudulent claims, he can be prosecuted for that fraud, but they can't actually stop him from publishing it in the first place.

If such prosecution occurs, then wouldn't there be a simple work-around for the author?

The author can prominently display a notice at the beginning of every section of the book:

"Anyone who believes that our existing justice system administers perfect justice is naive. To protect myself from the imperfections of the justice system, I am forced to warn you that nothing in this or any other section of the book is to be understood as being asserted by me. All statements are merely put forward as imaginative constructions that could be imagined as being true, but that are not asserted to be true. Remember, the imperfections of the justice system force me to make this disclaimer."