L. B. Sullivan, a Montgomery, Alabama city commissioner who supervised the police, sued the New York Times and four Alabama clergymen over a full-page ad, "Heed Their Rising Voices," criticizing official treatment of civil rights protesters. The ad did not name Sullivan, but he argued that references to police conduct and Dr. King's arrests were understood as referring to him in his official capacity. Some statements in the ad were factually inaccurate, and Alabama courts treated the publication as libel per se, presuming falsity, malice, and damages; a jury awarded Sullivan $500,000. The Alabama Supreme Court affirmed, rejecting First Amendment objections.
Does the First and Fourteenth Amendment permit a public official to recover damages for defamatory falsehood relating to his official conduct without proof that the statement was made with actual malice?
A public official may not recover damages for a defamatory falsehood relating to his official conduct unless he proves the statement was made with "actual malice"—that is, with knowledge that it was false or with reckless disregard of whether it was false or not. Debate on public issues must be protected with "breathing space," including protection for some erroneous statements.
No. The Constitution bars a public official from recovering for criticism of official conduct absent proof of actual malice, and the evidence here was insufficient to meet that standard. The Alabama judgment was reversed.
Justice Brennan reasoned that state defamation law is constrained by the First Amendment because robust debate about public affairs is a central constitutional value. Common-law rules presuming falsity, malice, and damages in favor of public officials would chill criticism of government and are incompatible with the freedoms of speech and press. The Court drew on the principle that speech about official conduct must be "uninhibited, robust, and wide-open," even when it includes sharp attacks and some factual error. The record showed at most negligence in failing to verify the ad's details, not knowing falsity or reckless disregard for truth, so the verdict could not stand.
This is the foundational modern First Amendment defamation case. It constitutionalized libel law by creating the actual-malice standard for public officials, later extended to public figures in Curtis Publishing Co. v. Butts, 388 U.S. 130 (1967), and Associated Press v. Walker, 388 U.S. 130 (1967), and refined in St. Amant v. Thompson, 390 U.S. 727 (1968). It also shaped later limits on presumed damages and private-figure doctrine in Gertz v. Robert Welch, Inc., 418 U.S. 323 (1974), and remains a cornerstone protection for criticism of government officials and the press.
Curtis Publishing Co. v. Butts, 388 U.S. 130 (1967) |
Verified |
Associated Press v. Walker, 388 U.S. 130 (1967) |
Verified |
St. Amant v. Thompson, 390 U.S. 727 (1968) |
Verified |
Gertz v. Robert Welch, 418 U.S. 323 (1974) |
Abstain |
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