At the hospital above the emergency room guards window is a sign regarding the penal code 309: There is a prison term for one month to two years whoever insults all who are public service, by saying of him, personally or publicly, or by written communication, telegraph or telephone or by a superior.
When I looked it up online it looked like it had been eliminated, but apparently news hasn't reached this hospital. I thought it was funny they included insulting by telegraph. "The guard at the hospital is terrible. STOP. He gets off work at 10 pm. STOP. Be advised the night guard is a woman whose worse. STOP."
The most controversial aspect of Costa Rican legislation has been the long-standing desacato or "insult" law which protects public figures from critical journalists. The Legislative Assembly voted on March 26, 2002 to eliminate Article 309 of the Criminal Code which made it a crime to "insult" the dignity of the president and other public officials. This aligns the code with the "actual malice" standard, first articulated by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1964. This standard requires plaintiffs to prove not only that published information about them is false, but also that the journalists knew or should have known it was false at the time of publication. Until the change in this law, journalists faced potential jail sentences of anywhere from a month to two years in prison, or as much as three years in prison if the offended party is a higher-ranking official such as the President.
Read more: Costa Rica Press, Media, TV, Radio, Newspapers - television, circulation, stations, papers, number, print, freedom, online http://www.pressreference.com/Co-Fa/Costa-Rica.html#ixzz1VZboPvSK
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