Court Opinion

ID: 9423146
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-02 23:06:12.627293+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:22:42.568378
License: Public Domain

Mr. Justice Fortas,
dissenting.
I would vacate the writ in this case as improvidently granted. The trial below occurred before this Court’s decision in New York Times Co. v. Sullivan, 376 U. S. 254. As a result, the factual record in this ease was not shaped in light of the principles announced in New York Times. Particularly in this type of case it is important to observe *101the practice of relating our decisions to factual -records. They serve to guide our judgment and to help us measure theory against the sharp outlines of reality. Especially where our decision furnishes a necessarily Procrustean bed for state law, I think, with all respect, that we should insist upon a relevant factual record. A subsequent trial may conceivably help respondent, but it will be too late to be of assistance to us.