View in EDS ePub Full Text

New York Times V. Sullivan : Civil Rights, Libel Law, and the Free Press

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Title: New York Times V. Sullivan : Civil Rights, Libel Law, and the Free Press
Description: Illuminating a classic case from the turbulent civil rights era of the 1960s, two of America's foremost legal historians—Kermit Hall and Melvin Urofsky—provide a compact and highly readable updating of one of the most memorable decisions in the Supreme Court's canon. When the New York Times published an advertisement that accused Alabama officials of willfully abusing civil rights activists, Montgomery police commissioner Lester Sullivan filed suit for defamation. Alabama courts, citing factual errors in the ad, ordered the Times to pay half a million dollars in damages. The Times appealed to the Supreme Court, which had previously deferred to the states on libel issues. The justices, recognizing that Alabama's application of libel law threatened both the nation's free press and equal rights for African Americans, unanimously sided with the Times.As memorably recounted twenty years ago in Anthony Lewis's Make No Law, the 1964 decision profoundly altered defamation law, which the Court declared must not hinder debate on public issues even if it includes “vehement, caustic, and sometimes unpleasantly sharp attacks on government and public officials.” The decision also introduced a new First Amendment test: a public official cannot recover damages for libel unless he proves that the statement was made with the knowledge that it was false or with reckless disregard of whether it was false. Hall and Urofsky, however, place a new emphasis on this iconic case. Whereas Lewis's book championed freedom of the press, the authors here provide a stronger focus on civil rights and southern legal culture. They convey to readers the urgency of the civil rights movement and the vitriolic anger it inspired in the Deep South. Their insights place this landmark case within a new and enlightening frame.
Authors: Kermit L. Hall, Melvin I. Urofsky
Resource Type: eBook.
Subjects: Trials (Libel)--Alabama--Montgomery, Freedom of the press--United States, Libel and slander--United States
Categories: HISTORY / United States / 20th Century, LAW / Legal History, POLITICAL SCIENCE / Civil Rights
Database: eBook Collection (EBSCOhost)
FullText Links:
  – Type: ebook-epub
Text:
  Availability: 0
Header DbId: nlebk
DbLabel: eBook Collection (EBSCOhost)
An: 3794160
RelevancyScore: 1123
AccessLevel: 6
PubType: eBook
PubTypeId: ebook
PreciseRelevancyScore: 1122.83581542969
IllustrationInfo
ImageInfo – Size: thumb
  Target: https://rps2images.ebscohost.com/rpsweb/othumb?id=NL$3794160$EPUB&s=r
– Size: medium
  Target: https://rps2images.ebscohost.com/rpsweb/othumb?id=NL$3794160$EPUB&s=d
Items – Name: Title
  Label: Title
  Group: Ti
  Data: New York Times V. Sullivan : Civil Rights, Libel Law, and the Free Press
– Name: Abstract
  Label: Description
  Group: Ab
  Data: Illuminating a classic case from the turbulent civil rights era of the 1960s, two of America's foremost legal historians—Kermit Hall and Melvin Urofsky—provide a compact and highly readable updating of one of the most memorable decisions in the Supreme Court's canon. When the New York Times published an advertisement that accused Alabama officials of willfully abusing civil rights activists, Montgomery police commissioner Lester Sullivan filed suit for defamation. Alabama courts, citing factual errors in the ad, ordered the Times to pay half a million dollars in damages. The Times appealed to the Supreme Court, which had previously deferred to the states on libel issues. The justices, recognizing that Alabama's application of libel law threatened both the nation's free press and equal rights for African Americans, unanimously sided with the Times.As memorably recounted twenty years ago in Anthony Lewis's Make No Law, the 1964 decision profoundly altered defamation law, which the Court declared must not hinder debate on public issues even if it includes “vehement, caustic, and sometimes unpleasantly sharp attacks on government and public officials.” The decision also introduced a new First Amendment test: a public official cannot recover damages for libel unless he proves that the statement was made with the knowledge that it was false or with reckless disregard of whether it was false. Hall and Urofsky, however, place a new emphasis on this iconic case. Whereas Lewis's book championed freedom of the press, the authors here provide a stronger focus on civil rights and southern legal culture. They convey to readers the urgency of the civil rights movement and the vitriolic anger it inspired in the Deep South. Their insights place this landmark case within a new and enlightening frame.
– Name: Author
  Label: Authors
  Group: Au
  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Kermit+L%2E+Hall%22">Kermit L. Hall</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Melvin+I%2E+Urofsky%22">Melvin I. Urofsky</searchLink>
– Name: TypePub
  Label: Resource Type
  Group: TypPub
  Data: eBook.
– Name: Subject
  Label: Subjects
  Group: Su
  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Trials+%28Libel%29--Alabama--Montgomery%22">Trials (Libel)--Alabama--Montgomery</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Freedom+of+the+press--United+States%22">Freedom of the press--United States</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Libel+and+slander--United+States%22">Libel and slander--United States</searchLink>
– Name: SubjectBISAC
  Label: Categories
  Group: Su
  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="ZK" term="%22HISTORY+%2F+United+States+%2F+20th+Century%22">HISTORY / United States / 20th Century</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="ZK" term="%22LAW+%2F+Legal+History%22">LAW / Legal History</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="ZK" term="%22POLITICAL+SCIENCE+%2F+Civil+Rights%22">POLITICAL SCIENCE / Civil Rights</searchLink>
PLink https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=nlebk&AN=3794160
RecordInfo BibRecord:
  BibEntity:
    Classifications:
      – Code: 342.730853
        Scheme: ddc
        Type: prePub
    Languages:
      – Code: eng
        Text: English
    Subjects:
      – SubjectFull: Trials (Libel)--Alabama--Montgomery
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Freedom of the press--United States
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Libel and slander--United States
        Type: general
    Titles:
      – TitleFull: New York Times V. Sullivan : Civil Rights, Libel Law, and the Free Press
        Type: main
  BibRelationships:
    HasContributorRelationships:
      – PersonEntity:
          Name:
            NameFull: Kermit L. Hall
      – PersonEntity:
          Name:
            NameFull: Melvin I. Urofsky
      – PersonEntity:
          Name:
            NameFull: Kermit L. Hall
      – PersonEntity:
          Name:
            NameFull: Melvin I. Urofsky
    IsPartOfRelationships:
      – BibEntity:
          Dates:
            – D: 01
              M: 01
              Type: published
              Y: 2024
            – D: 15
              M: 08
              Type: profile
              Y: 2025
          Identifiers:
            – Type: isbn-print
              Value: 9780700618033
            – Type: isbn-electronic
              Value: 9780700634538
          Titles:
            – TitleFull: New York Times V. Sullivan : Civil Rights, Libel Law, and the Free Press
              Type: main
ResultId 1