Constitutional Privilege

New York Times v. Sullivan (1964)

Paid ad in the New York Times: "Heed Their Rising Voices"

Sullivan was the police commissioner of Montgomery, AL. The trial court awarded him $500,000 in a defamation suit. This award was upheld by the Supreme Court of Alabama.

The Supreme Court reversed and created new law.

1. The Court created a new defense to defamation: constitutional privilege. pp. 274-275

2. The Court extended "fair comment." pp. 275-276

3. The Court required that "actual malice" be shown in a defamation case in which the plaintiff is a public official and the defamatory comment is about his official conduct.

"Actual Malice" is defined as "knowledge that it [the communication] was false or with reckless disregard of whether it was false or not." pp. 277-278

 

4. Identification of the plaintiff and actual malice must be shown with convincing clarity. p. 278

[5. Change in the burden of proof]

Clarification of actual malice

St. Amant v. Thompson (1968) p. 286

actual malice (reckless disregard) = "the defendant in fact entertained serious doubts as to the truth of his publication"

Examples:

fabricated communication

anonymous telephone call

the claim was inherently improbable

there was reason to doubt the source

Harte-Hanks Communication v. Connaughton (1989) p. 287

Masson v. The New Yorker (1991) pp. 287-288

actual malice (knowing falsehood)--the alteration of a quote which results in a material change in the meaning conveyed by the statement is a knowing falsehood