New York Times vs. Sullivan Presentation

Addison Stern

New york times vs. Sullivan

START

SUMMARY

When The New York Times published an advertisement regarding the civil rights movement in Alabama, Sullivan expressed significant offense at the selection of inaccuracies in the ad and filed a lawsuit.

This case is one of the Supreme Court's most significant First Amendment rulings

This case occurred during the civil rights movement, which was most prominent from the mid-1950s to the late 1960s.

‘The First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution does not protect libelous publications’

- Supreme Court of Alabama

PROCESSES

• The New York Times appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court

• "Public officials cannot recover damages for defamatory statements relating to their official conduct unless they prove 'actual malice'"
• Supreme Court ruling established the 'actual malice ' standard for libel lawsuits

- M. Rondald Nachman

- Herbert Wechsler

- William P. Rogers

Advocates

- William J. Brennan Jr.

conclusions

The "actual malice" standard set by the Court has safeguarded the freedom of the press for over 50 years

"A State cannot, under the First and Fourteenth Amendments, award damages to a public official for defamatory falsehood relating to his official conduct unless he proves "actual malice" -- that the statement was made with knowledge of its falsity or with reckless disregard of whether it was true or false."

- Silence Dogood (Benjamin Franklin)

"Whoever would overthrow the liberty of a nation must begin by subduing the freeness of speech."

Lewin, Tamar. “Herbert Wechsler, Legal Giant, Is Dead at 90.” The New York Times, April 28, 2000. https://www.nytimes.com/2000/04/28/us/herbert-wechsler- legal-giant-is-dead-at-90.html. “New York Times v. Sullivan Podcast.” United States Courts. Accessed October 10, 2024. https://www.uscourts.gov/about-federal-courts/educational-resources/supreme- court-landmarks/new-york-times-v-sullivan- podcast#:~:text=In%201960%2C%20the%20New%20York, reckless20disregard- %20for%20the%20truth.%22. Team, Wex Definitions, ed. “New York Times v. Sullivan (1964).” Legal Information Institute, March 2022. https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/new_york_times_v_sullivan_(1964). Wermiel, Stephen. “New York Times Co. v. Sullivan (1964).” The Free Speech Center, July 5, 2024. https://firstamendment.mtsu.edu/article/new-york-times-co-v- sullivan/#:~:text=Sullivan%20sued%20paper%20for%20mistakes,eno- rmous%20sum%20at%20the%20time.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Success

• Won the Medal of Freedom in 1973
• Navy veteran of World War II
• Eisenhower's deputy attorney general from 1953 to 1957

William P. Rogers

Other Cases Argued

• Japan Whaling Association v. American Cetacean Society (1985)
• Commonwealth Edison Company v. Montana (1980)
• The Associated Press v. Walker

Agreed to represent Sullivan because at the time libel was not considered within the purview of the First Amendment’s protection of free speech and a free press

M. Rondald Nachman

Other Cases Argued

• New York Times Company v. Sullivan (1964)

• Parsons Steel, Inc. v. First Alabama Bank (1985)

Herbert Wechsler

Success

• Served as assistant attorney general in charge of the War Division
• Columbia Law School professor