GOVT 280-001
New York Times Co. v. Sullivan, 376 U.S. 254
Parties: New York Times Company, Petitioner, v. L. B. Sullivan, Respondent.
Counsel: Herbert Wechsler for petitioner. M. Roland Nachman, Jr. for respondent.
Judges: Warren, Black, Douglas, Clark, Harlan, Brennan, Stewart, White, and
Goldberg.
Procedural History: A newspaper, the petitioner, sought a review of a decision by the
Supreme Court of Alabama upholding a judgement awarding a public official, the respondent,
damages in a civil libel action.
Summary of Facts: Respondent, an elected official in Montgomery, Alabama, brought suit in
a state court alleging that he had be libeled by an advertisement in corporate petitioner’s
newspaper, the text of which appeared over the names of the four individual petitioners and
many others. The advertisement included statements, some of which were false, about police
action allegedly directed against students who participated in a civil rights demonstration and
against a leader of the civil rights movement; the respondent claimed the statements referred
to him because his duties included supervision of the police department. The trial judge
instructed the jury that such statements were “libelous per se,” legal injury being implied
without proof of actual damages.
Issues: Whether or not a judgement awarding the respondent damages in a civil libel action
be reversed.
Holding: The court held that the petitioner’s constitutional guarantees required a rule that
prohibited a public official from recovering damages for a defamatory falsehood relating to
the public official’s official conduct unless the official proved that the statement was made
with malice.
New York Times Co. v. Sullivan, 376 U.S. 254
Parties: New York Times Company, Petitioner, v. L. B. Sullivan, Respondent.
Counsel: Herbert Wechsler for petitioner. M. Roland Nachman, Jr. for respondent.
Judges: Warren, Black, Douglas, Clark, Harlan, Brennan, Stewart, White, and
Goldberg.
Procedural History: A newspaper, the petitioner, sought a review of a decision by the
Supreme Court of Alabama upholding a judgement awarding a public official, the respondent,
damages in a civil libel action.
Summary of Facts: Respondent, an elected official in Montgomery, Alabama, brought suit in
a state court alleging that he had be libeled by an advertisement in corporate petitioner’s
newspaper, the text of which appeared over the names of the four individual petitioners and
many others. The advertisement included statements, some of which were false, about police
action allegedly directed against students who participated in a civil rights demonstration and
against a leader of the civil rights movement; the respondent claimed the statements referred
to him because his duties included supervision of the police department. The trial judge
instructed the jury that such statements were “libelous per se,” legal injury being implied
without proof of actual damages.
Issues: Whether or not a judgement awarding the respondent damages in a civil libel action
be reversed.
Holding: The court held that the petitioner’s constitutional guarantees required a rule that
prohibited a public official from recovering damages for a defamatory falsehood relating to
the public official’s official conduct unless the official proved that the statement was made
with malice.
