In 1964, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that our First Amendment right to freedom of speech limited the ability of public officials to sue for defamation. It set a lasting precedent that provides important protections for journalists. That precedent is increasingly under threat.
The court ruled that, to win a libel lawsuit, a public official would have to prove “actual malice,” meaning that there was a reckless disregard for the truth. The landmark case stemmed from a full-page ad a civil rights group had placed in The New York Times that criticized Alabama officials over how they treated civil rights protesters. The police commissioner at the time, L.B. Sullivan, sued the Times for libel and the case went to the Supreme Court.
The full and dramatic story behind New York Times v. Sullivan is told in a new book by Samantha Barbas, a professor of law at the University of Buffalo School of Law and the director of the Baldy Center for Law and Social Policy.
