# Claim 825

The Supreme Court held that a public official may not recover libel damages over criticism of official conduct unless the official proves the statement was made with actual malice, that is, with knowledge it was false or with reckless disregard for the truth.

Published 2026-09-26. Last reviewed 2026-09-26. 1 source.

- Statement: The Supreme Court held that a public official may not recover libel damages over criticism of official conduct unless the official proves the statement was made with actual malice, that is, with knowledge it was false or with reckless disregard for the truth.
- Field: effect_on_reporting
- Value: Actual malice standard
- About: [incident 1960-us-montgomery-commissioner-sues-new-york-times-for-libel](https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/1960-us-montgomery-commissioner-sues-new-york-times-for-libel)
- Source: New York Times Co. v. Sullivan, 376 U.S. 254 (1964). https://www.law.cornell.edu/supremecourt/text/376/254
- Publisher: Cornell Law School, Legal Information Institute
- Method: court record
- Checked: 2026-09-26
- Confidence: high
- Status: current
- Source date: 1964-03-09

## Quotation from the source

> unless he proves that 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.

Source page: https://thewaronnews.com/claims/825. The War On News, CC BY 4.0.