New York Times v. Sullivan Lecture Notes

New York Times v. Sullivan 1964 (9-0)

Background:

An ad was placed in the NY Times to raise money for Civil Rights leaders

Sullivan demanded a retraction

Argued the ad defamed him as City Commissioner for the city of Montgomery

Sued for libel

There were some inaccuracies but were minor

For example, ad stated King arrested seven times when in fact it was four

Times refused to comply with the retraction

Sullivan sued- asked for $500,000 in damages

Trial was a sham- Times lost

Now, libel would be used as a political weapon to intimidate the press

South was trying to choke off a process that was educating the country about the harsh realities of racism in the South.

Strategy of intimidation spread throughout the South, by the time the case reached the Supreme Court, the South had brought forth nearly $300,000,000 in libel suits.

What would happen if the strategy worked?

Would it have made a difference in the progress of the Civil Rights Movement?

-Think of King’s tactics (Discuss)

The landmark case: New York Times v. Sullivan 1964

Established the “actual malice” standard