New York Times Co. v. Sullivan
376 U.S. 254 · 1964-03-09
Edition: U. S. Reports, bound volume
Source: U. S. Reports, volume 376, at 254 (Library of Congress) · transcription: Caselaw Access Project
Voices: Mr. Justice Brennan delivered the opinion of the Court. · Mr. Justice Black, with whom Mr. Justice Douglas joins, concurring. · Mr. Justice Goldberg, with whom Mr. Justice Douglas joins, concurring in the result.
We are required in this case to determine for the first time the extent to which the constitutional protections for speech and press limit a State’s power to award damages in a libel action brought by a public official against critics of his official conduct.
Respondent L. B. Sullivan is one of the three elected Commissioners of the City of Montgomery, Alabama. He testified that he was “Commissioner of Public Affairs and the duties are supervision of the Police Department, Fire Department, Department of Cemetery and Department of Scales.” He brought this civil libel action against the four individual petitioners, who are Negroes and Alabama clergymen, and against petitioner the New York Times Company, a New York corporation which publishes the New York Times, a daily newspaper. A jury in the Circuit Court of Montgomery County awarded him damages…Read it in the reading room ›