Today is the sixty-second anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court case, New York Times v. Sullivan. It is a landmark case regarding free speech. I give a simplified synopsis of the case in today’s blog post.

The New York Times published an advertisement written in the form of an editorial. The purpose of the ad was to raise money for the defense of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in a perjury case.

In the ad, allegations were made against the police in Montgomery, Alabama. Although he was not mentioned by name in the ad, Montgomery’s Public Safety Commissioner L.B. Sullivan took offense at some of the statements in the printed advertisement. The ad criticized the Montgomery police for their treatment of civil rights protesters. Since they were subordinates of Sullivan, he believed his reputation was damaged by the allegations.

As required by Alabama law in libel cases, Sullivan requested in writing that the newspaper retract the information. The newspaper refused.

Sullivan sued The New York Times and a group of African American pastors for libel.

The Alabama Supreme Court ruled in favor of Sullivan and awarded him $500,000 in punitive damages.

The New York Times appealed and the case went to the U.S. Supreme Court.

In a unanimous decision, the Court ruled in favor of the newspaper. The decision raised the bar for defamation lawsuits. Justice William J. Brennan, Jr. wrote the opinion. The decision established that it is not sufficient for a public official to prove that statements written about them are false; they must prove malice.

Prior to The New York Times v. Sullivan, in libel law, “malice” meant knowledge or gross recklessness. It was accepted thought that a person would not knowingly disseminate false information unless they had bad intentions.

The ramifications of the ruling

New York Times v. Sullivan made it more difficult for public officials to prove that they have been libeled. The case established that the plaintiff must prove that the words in question were written with “actual malice” which is not an easy thing to prove.

Janet

The government should be afraid of its citizens, not the other way around.