New York Times v. Sullivan
Subtitle: civil rights, libel law, and the free press
By: Kermit L. Hall and Melvin I. Urofsky
Contributors: Urofsky, Melvin I.
Series: Landmark law cases & American society; Landmark law cases & American society
Publisher: University Press of Kansas
Published: 2011
Place of publication: Lawrence, Kan
Language: eng
Number of pages: 222
ISBN-13: 9780700618026; 9780700618033
Subjects: Trials (Libel); Trials, litigation; Freedom of the press; New York Times Company; Libel and slander
Other titles: New York Times versus Sullivan
Description: When the New York Times published an advertisement that accused Alabama officials of willfully abusing civil rights activists, Montgomery police commissioner Lester Sullivan filed suit for defamation. Alabama courts, citing factual errors in the ad, ordered the Times to pay half a million dollars in damages. The Times appealed to the Supreme Court, which had previously deferred to the states on libel issues. The justices, recognizing that Alabama's application of libel law threatened both the nation's free press and equal rights for African Americans, unanimously sided with the Times. The decision introduced a new First Amendment test: a public official cannot recover damages for libel unless he proves that the statement was made with the knowledge that it was false or with reckless disregard of whether it was false.-Publisher description.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (p. 209-214) and index.
Table of contents: title: A place in time; title: "Lies, lies, lies"; title: Trial by jury; title: "Let 'em see the dogs work"; title: The road to the Alabama Supreme Court; title: A new game plan; title: Briefing the court; title: "May it please the court"; title: "Uninhibited, robust, and wide-open".