New York Times v. Sullivan : civil rights, libel law, and the free press / Kermit L. Hall and Melvin I. Urofsky.

Lawrence, Kan. : University Press of Kansas, [2011]

©2011

KF228.N4 H35 2011

9780700618026 (cloth : alk. paper)
0700618023 (cloth : alk. paper)
9780700618033 (pbk. : alk. paper)
0700618031 (pbk. : alk. paper)

x, 222 pages ; 23 cm.

(OCoLC)711959938

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.

Includes bibliographical references (pages 209-214) and index.

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New York Times versus Sullivan