Source: https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/472/479/
Timestamp: 2019-04-23 02:16:13+00:00

Document:
Respondent filed a libel action against petitioner in a North Carolina state court under the common law of that State, alleging that while respondent was being considered for the position of United States Attorney, petitioner wrote two letters to President Reagan (and sent copies to other Government officials) containing "false, slanderous, libelous, inflammatory and derogatory statements" concerning respondent, and that petitioner knew that the statements were false and maliciously intended to injure respondent by undermining his prospect of being appointed United States Attorney. Seeking compensatory and punitive damages, respondent also alleged, inter alia, that the letters had their intended effect, resulting in his not being appointed, and that his reputation and career as an attorney were injured. Petitioner removed the case to Federal District Court on the basis of diversity of citizenship and then moved for judgment on the pleadings on the ground that the Petition Clause of the First Amendment -- which guarantees "the right of the people . . . to petition the Government for a redress of grievances" -- provided absolute immunity from liability. The District Court held that the Clause does not grant absolute immunity, and the Court of Appeals affirmed.
sound basis for granting greater constitutional protection to statements made in a petition than other First Amendment expressions. Pp. 472 U. S. 482-485.
2. Under North Carolina common law, damages may be recovered only if petitioner is shown to have acted with "malice," as defined in terms that the North Carolina Court of Appeals considered to be consistent with New York Times Co. v. Sullivan, 376 U. S. 254. The Petition Clause does not require the State to expand this privilege into an absolute one. P. 472 U. S. 485.
BURGER, C.J., delivered the opinion of the Court, in which all other Members joined, except POWELL, J., who took no part in the decision of the case. BRENNAN, J., filed a concurring opinion, in which MARSHALL and BLACKMUN, JJ., joined, post, p. 472 U. S. 485.
We granted certiorari to decide whether the Petition Clause of the First Amendment provides absolute immunity to a defendant charged with expressing libelous and damaging falsehoods in letters to the President of the United States.
wrote two letters to President Reagan. [Footnote 1] The complaint alleges that these letters "contained false, slanderous, libelous, inflammatory and derogatory statements" concerning respondent. App. 4-5. In particular, the complaint states that the letters falsely accused respondent of "violating the civil rights of various individuals while a Superior Court Judge," "fraud and conspiracy to commit fraud," "extortion or blackmail," and "violations of professional ethics." Id. at 5-6. Respondent alleged that petitioner knew that these accusations were false, and that petitioner maliciously intended to injure respondent by undermining his prospect of being appointed United States Attorney.
The complaint alleges that petitioner mailed copies of the letters to Presidential Adviser Edwin Meese, Senator Jesse Helms, Representative W. E. Johnston, and three other officials in the Executive and Legislative Branches. [Footnote 2] It further alleges that petitioner's letters had their intended effect: respondent was not appointed United States Attorney, his reputation and career as an attorney were injured, and he "suffered humiliation, embarrassment, anxiety and mental anguish." Id. at 6. Respondent sought compensatory and punitive damages of $1 million.
immunity. The District Court agreed with petitioner that his communications fell "within the general protection afforded by the petition clause," 562 F.Supp. 829, 838-839 (MDNC 1983), but held that the Clause does not grant absolute immunity from liability for libel. The Fourth Circuit, relying on this Court's decision in White v. Nicholls, 3 How. 266 (1845), affirmed. [Footnote 3] 737 F.2d 427 (1984).
We granted certiorari, 469 U.S. 1032 (1984), and we affirm.
The First Amendment guarantees "the right of the people . . . to petition the Government for a redress of grievances." The right to petition is cut from the same cloth as the other guarantees of that Amendment, and is an assurance of a particular freedom of expression. In United States v. Cruikshank, 92 U. S. 542 (1876), the Court declared that this right is implicit in "[t]he very idea of government, republican in form." Id. at 92 U. S. 552. And James Madison made clear in the congressional debate on the proposed amendment that people "may communicate their will" through direct petitions to the legislature and government officials. 1 Annals of Cong. 738 (1789).
state conventions contained a right to petition for redress of grievances. See, e.g., Pennsylvania Declaration of Rights (1776).
Although the values in the right of petition as an important aspect of self-government are beyond question, it does not follow that the Framers of the First Amendment believed that the Petition Clause provided absolute immunity from damages for libel. Early libel cases in state courts provide no clear evidence of the nature of the right to petition as it existed at the time the First Amendment was adopted; these cases reveal conflicting views of the privilege afforded expressions in petitions to government officials.
persons in an official capacity, nor will the law endure such a mockery of its justice."
Id. at 25 (emphasis in original).
Nor do the Court's decisions interpreting the Petition Clause in contexts other than defamation indicate that the right to petition is absolute. For example, filing a complaint in court is a form of petitioning activity; but "baseless litigation is not immunized by the First Amendment right to petition." Bill Johnson's Restaurants, Inc. v. NLRB, 461 U. S. 731, 461 U. S. 743 (1983); accord, California Motor Transport Co. v. Trucking Unlimited, 404 U. S. 508, 404 U. S. 513 (1972). Similarly, petitions to the President that contain intentional and reckless falsehoods "do not enjoy constitutional protection," Garrison v. Louisiana, 379 U. S. 64, 379 U. S. 75 (1964), and may, as in White v. Nicholls, supra, be reached by the law of libel.
To accept petitioner's claim of absolute immunity would elevate the Petition Clause to special First Amendment status. The Petition Clause, however, was inspired by the same ideals of liberty and democracy that gave us the freedoms to speak, publish, and assemble. See Mine Workers v. Illinois Bar Assn., 389 U. S. 217, 389 U. S. 222 (1967). These First Amendment rights are inseparable, Thomas v. Collins, 323 U. S. 516, 323 U. S. 530 (1945), and there is no sound basis for granting greater constitutional protection to statements made in a petition to the President than other First Amendment expressions.
"knowledge at the time that the words are false, or . . . without probable cause or without checking for truth by the means at hand."
The first letter, dated December 1, 1980, was written to Ronald Reagan as "President-Elect of the United States." App. 8. The second letter was dated February 13, 1981, and directed to President Reagan. Id. at 14. Petitioner described himself as a "politically active American" who has owned and operated three child-care centers in North Carolina since 1970. Id. at 8.
Copies of the December 1, 1980, letter were purportedly sent to Representatives Jack Kemp and Barry Goldwater, Jr. The Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, William Webster, allegedly received a copy of the letter dated February 13, 1981.
Because petitioner raised a "serious and unsettled question" concerning absolute immunity, 737 F.2d at 428, the Court of Appeals accepted jurisdiction under the "collateral order" doctrine. See Nixon v. Fitzgerald, 457 U. S. 731, 457 U. S. 742-743 (1982). Given the preliminary nature of this petition for certiorari, we do not address petitioner's request for attorney's fees should he ultimately prevail.
See Lake v. King, 1 Wms. Saund. 131, 85 Eng.Rep. 137 (K.B. 1680). In White v. Nicholls, 3 How. 266, 44 U. S. 289 (1845), this Court described Lake v. King as a "seemingly anomalous decision."
Basic aspects of the right to petition were under attack in England in the 1790's. In response to an assembly of 150,000 persons petitioning for various reforms, Parliament outlawed public meetings of more than 50 person held to petition the King, "except in the presence of a magistrate with authority to arrest everybody present." I. Brant, The Bill of Rights 245 (1965).
"made with 'actual malice' -- that is, with knowledge that it was false or with reckless disregard of whether it was false or not."
toward protection of "freedom of speech and of the press," id. at 376 U. S. 264, reflects our "profound national commitment to the principle that debate on public issues should be uninhibited, robust, and wide-open," id. at 376 U. S. 270.
The petitioner Robert McDonald contends that, when a citizen communicates directly with Government officials about matters of public importance here the qualifications of a candidate for United States Attorney -- the First Amendment's Petition Clause requires courts in defamation actions to accord an absolute privilege to such communications rather than the qualified privilege defined in New York Times. I fully agree with the Court that the Petition Clause imposes no such absolute privilege.
McDonald correctly notes that the right to petition the Government requires stringent protection.
We have not interpreted the First Amendment, however, as requiring protection of all statements concerning public officials.
"Although honest utterance, even if inaccurate, may further the fruitful exercise of the right of free speech, it does not follow that the lie, knowingly and deliberately published about a public official, should enjoy a like immunity. At the time the First Amendment was adopted, as today, there were those unscrupulous enough and skillful enough to use the deliberate or reckless falsehood as an effective political tool to unseat the public servant or even to topple an administration. . . . That speech is used as a tool for political ends does not automatically bring it under the protective mantle of the Constitution. For the use of the known lie as a tool is at once at odds with the premises of democratic government and with the orderly manner in which economic, social, or political change is to be effected. Calculated falsehood falls into that class of utterances which"
"Chaplinsky v. New Hampshire, 315 U. S. 568, 315 U. S. 572. Hence the knowingly false statement and the false statement made with reckless disregard of the truth, do not enjoy constitutional protection."
Garrison v. Louisiana, 379 U. S. 64, 379 U. S. 75 (1964).
McDonald argues that, for two reasons, this qualification of the right vigorously to criticize public officials should not apply to expression falling within the scope of the Petition Clause. [Footnote 2/2] First, he contends that petitioning historically was accorded an absolute immunity and that the Framers included the Petition Clause in the First Amendment on this understanding. I agree with the Court that the evidence concerning 17th- and 18th-century British and colonial practice reveals, at most, "conflicting views of the privilege afforded expressions in petitions to government officials," ante at 472 U. S. 483, and does not persuasively demonstrate the Framers' intent to accord absolute immunity to petitioning.
"[u]nlike the more general freedoms of speech and press, the right to petition was understood by the Framers of the Constitution and the First Amendment to be a necessary right of a self-governing people,"
exercising his right to petition, [he] is thus performing a self-governmental function."
"The right of freedom of speech is secured; the liberty of the press is expressly declared to be beyond the reach of this Government; the people may therefore publicly address their representatives, may privately advise them, or declare their sentiments by petition to the whole body; in all these ways they may communicate their will."
1 Annals of Cong. 738 (1789) (emphasis added).
guaranty with the rights of the people peaceably to assemble and to petition for redress of grievances. All these, though not identical, are inseparable. They are cognate rights, . . . and therefore are united in the First Article's assurance."
Thomas v. Collins, 323 U. S. 516, 323 U. S. 530 (1945). And although we have not previously addressed the precise issue before us today, we have recurrently treated the right to petition similarly to, and frequently as overlapping with, the First Amendment's other guarantees of free expression. See, e.g., NAACP v. Claiborne Hardware Co., 458 U. S. 886, 458 U. S. 909-912, 458 U. S. 915 (1982); Mine Workers v. Illinois Bar Assn., 389 U.S. at 389 U. S. 221-222; Adderley v. Florida, 385 U. S. 39, 385 U. S. 40-42 (1966); Edwards v. South Carolina, 372 U. S. 229, 372 U. S. 234-235 (1963); NAACP v. Button, 371 U. S. 415, 371 U. S. 429-431 (1963).
There is no persuasive reason for according greater or lesser protection to expression on matters of public importance depending on whether the expression consists of speaking to neighbors across the backyard fence, publishing an editorial in the local newspaper, or sending a letter to the President of the United States. It necessarily follows that expression falling within the scope of the Petition Clause, while fully protected by the actual-malice standard set forth in New York Times Co. v. Sullivan, is not shielded by an absolute privilege. I therefore join the Court's opinion.
To safeguard the First Amendment's values, "defeasance of the privilege" set forth in New York Times "is conditioned, not on mere negligence, but on reckless disregard for the truth." Garrison v. Louisiana, 379 U. S. 64, 379 U. S. 79 (1964).
For purposes of applying an absolute immunity in the Petition Clause context, McDonald suggests that we need consider only those expressions that "touc[h] on" and are "relevant to" the official conduct of public servants, and that are "contained in a private petition to federal officials who [have] authority to take responsive actions." Brief for Petitioner 7, and n. 7. The Court long ago concluded, however, that the Petition Clause embraces a much broader range of communications addressed to the executive, the legislature, courts, and administrative agencies. See, e.g., Bill Johnson's Restaurants, Inc. v. NLRB, 461 U. S. 731, 461 U. S. 741 (1983); California Motor Transport Co. v. Trucking Unlimited, 404 U. S. 508, 404 U. S. 510 (1972). It also includes such activities as peaceful protest demonstrations. See, e.g., NAACP v. Claiborne Hardware Co., 458 U. S. 886, 458 U. S. 909-912 (1982); Edwards v. South Carolina, 372 U. S. 229, 372 U. S. 235 (1963). Expression falling within the Petition Clause will thus frequently also be protected by the First Amendment freedoms of speech, press, and assembly. See also Adderle v. Florida, 385 U. S. 39, 385 U. S. 49-51 (1966) (Douglas, J., dissenting).
"'to the end that government may be responsive to the will of the people and that changes may be obtained by lawful means.'"
New York Time Co. v. Sullivan, 376 U.S. at 376 U. S. 266, 376 U. S. 269.

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