New York Times v. Sullivan : civil rights, libel law, and the free press /
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...
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| Format: | Book |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Lawrence, Kan. :
University Press of Kansas,
c2011
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| Series: | Landmark law cases & American society
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| Subjects: | |
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| Summary: | 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 |
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| Physical Description: | x, 222 p. : fascim. ; 23 cm |
| Bibliography: | Includes bibliographical references (p. 209-214) and index |
| ISBN: | 9780700618026 (cloth : alk. paper) 0700618023 (cloth : alk. paper) 9780700618033 (pbk. : alk. paper) 0700618031 (pbk. : alk. paper) |