New York Times Co. v. Sullivan
E166646
New York Times Co. v. Sullivan is a landmark 1964 U.S. Supreme Court decision that established the “actual malice” standard, greatly expanding First Amendment protections for the press in defamation cases involving public officials.
All labels observed (1)
| Label | Occurrences |
|---|---|
| New York Times Co. v. Sullivan canonical | 3 |
Statements (48)
| Predicate | Object |
|---|---|
| instanceOf |
United States Supreme Court case
ⓘ
defamation case ⓘ landmark First Amendment case ⓘ |
| appliesTo | public officials ⓘ |
| arguedDate | 1964-01-06 ⓘ |
| citation | 376 U.S. 254 ⓘ |
| concurrenceBy |
Arthur J. Goldberg
ⓘ
Hugo L. Black ⓘ William O. Douglas ⓘ |
| constitutionalProvisionAppliedThrough | Fourteenth Amendment ⓘ |
| constitutionalProvisionInterpreted | First Amendment to the United States Constitution ⓘ |
| court | Supreme Court of the United States ⓘ |
| decisionDate | 1964-03-09 ⓘ |
| definedTerm | actual malice is knowledge that a statement was false or reckless disregard of whether it was false or not. ⓘ |
| effect | made it harder for public officials to win libel suits in the United States ⓘ |
| establishedStandard | actual malice ⓘ |
| expandedProtectionFor |
press
ⓘ
speech criticizing public officials ⓘ |
| holding |
A public official cannot recover damages for a defamatory falsehood relating to official conduct unless the official proves the statement was made with actual malice.
ⓘ
The First Amendment limits a state’s power to award damages in libel actions brought by public officials against critics of their official conduct. ⓘ |
| involvedAdvertisement | Heed Their Rising Voices ⓘ |
| involvedPublication | The New York Times ⓘ |
| joinedByInMajority |
Byron R. White
ⓘ
Earl Warren ⓘ Hugo L. Black ⓘ John M. Harlan II ⓘ Potter Stewart ⓘ Tom C. Clark ⓘ William O. Douglas ⓘ |
| jurisdiction |
United States of America
ⓘ
surface form:
United States
|
| laterExtendedTo | public figures ⓘ |
| legalSubject |
First Amendment to the United States Constitution
ⓘ
surface form:
First Amendment
constitutional law ⓘ defamation law ⓘ freedom of the press ⓘ |
| majorityOpinionBy | William J. Brennan Jr. ⓘ |
| originatingCourt | Supreme Court of Alabama ⓘ |
| page | 254 ⓘ |
| petitioner | The New York Times Company ⓘ |
| rearguedDate | 1964-01-07 ⓘ |
| recognizedPrinciple | debate on public issues should be uninhibited, robust, and wide-open. ⓘ |
| relatedTo |
civil rights movement
ⓘ
criticism of police conduct in Montgomery, Alabama ⓘ |
| reporter | United States Reports ⓘ |
| respondent | L. B. Sullivan ⓘ |
| stateLawAtIssue | Alabama libel law ⓘ |
| volume | 376 ⓘ |
| yearDecided | 1964 ⓘ |
Referenced by (3)
Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.
subject surface form:
William J. Brennan Jr.