{
  "title": "Incidents: insult and defamation laws in the United States, outcome reversed",
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    "tactic": "insult_and_defamation_laws",
    "outcome": "reversed"
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  "count": 2,
  "page": 1,
  "pages": 1,
  "per_page": 50,
  "counts_caveat": "The number of entries reflects the depth of this record, not the severity of a country's conduct.",
  "facets": {
    "country": [
      {
        "value": "US",
        "label": "United States",
        "rsf": {
          "index": "RSF World Press Freedom Index",
          "year": 2026,
          "rank": 64,
          "of": 180,
          "label": "RSF 2026 rank: 64th of 180",
          "source_url": "https://rsf.org/en/index"
        }
      }
    ],
    "continent": [
      {
        "value": "north-america",
        "label": "North America"
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    ],
    "tactic": [
      {
        "value": "insult_and_defamation_laws",
        "label": "Insult and defamation laws",
        "count": 2
      },
      {
        "value": "lawsuits_against_press",
        "label": "Lawsuits against the press",
        "count": 2
      }
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        "value": "punish",
        "label": "Punish",
        "count": 2
      }
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      {
        "value": "state_or_province",
        "label": "State or province",
        "count": 1
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      {
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        "count": 1
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    "outcome": [
      {
        "value": "reversed",
        "label": "Reversed",
        "count": 2
      }
    ],
    "leader": [
      {
        "value": "john-patterson",
        "label": "John Patterson"
      },
      {
        "value": "theodore-roosevelt",
        "label": "Theodore Roosevelt"
      }
    ],
    "era": [
      {
        "value": "1960s",
        "label": "1960s",
        "count": 1
      },
      {
        "value": "1900s",
        "label": "1900s",
        "count": 1
      }
    ],
    "year": [
      {
        "value": "1909",
        "label": "1909",
        "count": 1
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      {
        "value": "1960",
        "label": "1960",
        "count": 1
      }
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    "has_case": [
      {
        "value": "0",
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        "count": 2
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    {
      "slug": "1960-us-montgomery-commissioner-sues-new-york-times-for-libel",
      "title": "United States: Montgomery, Alabama commissioner sues The New York Times for libel over a civil rights advertisement",
      "occurred_on": "1960-01-01",
      "occurred_on_precision": "year",
      "country": "US",
      "country_name": "United States",
      "continent": "north-america",
      "jurisdiction": "US-NY",
      "level": "state_or_province",
      "tactic_primary": "lawsuits_against_press",
      "tactics": [
        "insult_and_defamation_laws",
        "lawsuits_against_press"
      ],
      "leader_slug": "john-patterson",
      "leader_name": "John Patterson",
      "issue_of_the_day": "The advertisement had described police actions against civil rights demonstrators who supported the Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. in Montgomery, and Sullivan, who supervised the police department, considered the description a reflection on him personally.",
      "outcome": "reversed",
      "outcome_on": "1964-03-09",
      "outcome_note": "The Supreme Court of the United States reversed the Alabama libel judgment on March 9, 1964, and remanded the case for further proceedings consistent with its opinion.",
      "stage": "punish",
      "ladder_note": null,
      "rsf": {
        "index": "RSF World Press Freedom Index",
        "year": 2026,
        "rank": 64,
        "of": 180,
        "label": "RSF 2026 rank: 64th of 180",
        "source_url": "https://rsf.org/en/index"
      },
      "era": "1960s",
      "granularity": "anchor",
      "status": "historical",
      "case_count": 0,
      "summary": "L. B. Sullivan, an elected Montgomery, Alabama city commissioner who supervised the police department, sued The New York Times for libel over a 1960 civil rights advertisement and won a $500,000 jury verdict. On March 9, 1964, the Supreme Court of the United States reversed the judgment, ruling that a public official cannot recover libel damages over criticism of official conduct without proving the statement was made with actual malice.",
      "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/1960-us-montgomery-commissioner-sues-new-york-times-for-libel"
    },
    {
      "slug": "1909-us-panama-canal-libel-prosecutions",
      "title": "United States: President Theodore Roosevelt seeks criminal libel indictments against the New York World and the Indianapolis News over Panama Canal reporting",
      "occurred_on": "1909-03-04",
      "occurred_on_precision": "day",
      "country": "US",
      "country_name": "United States",
      "continent": "north-america",
      "jurisdiction": "US",
      "level": "national",
      "tactic_primary": "insult_and_defamation_laws",
      "tactics": [
        "insult_and_defamation_laws",
        "lawsuits_against_press"
      ],
      "leader_slug": "theodore-roosevelt",
      "leader_name": "Theodore Roosevelt",
      "issue_of_the_day": "The New York World and the Indianapolis News had published reports on who had profited from the United States' purchase of the Panama Canal, reports that Roosevelt disputed as libelous.",
      "outcome": "reversed",
      "outcome_on": "1911-01-03",
      "outcome_note": "The Supreme Court's 1911 ruling that no federal criminal libel law existed for offenses on federal enclaves left the World and the News without convictions and was later described as an early safeguard for the freedom of the press.",
      "stage": "punish",
      "ladder_note": null,
      "rsf": {
        "index": "RSF World Press Freedom Index",
        "year": 2026,
        "rank": 64,
        "of": 180,
        "label": "RSF 2026 rank: 64th of 180",
        "source_url": "https://rsf.org/en/index"
      },
      "era": "1900s",
      "granularity": "anchor",
      "status": "historical",
      "case_count": 0,
      "summary": "President Theodore Roosevelt sought federal criminal libel indictments against the publishers of the New York World and the Indianapolis News after they reported that he and other officials had profited from the United States' purchase of the Panama Canal. Federal courts in New York and Indiana dismissed the indictments, and the Supreme Court upheld that result in 1911.",
      "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/1909-us-panama-canal-libel-prosecutions"
    }
  ],
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  "license": {
    "name": "CC BY 4.0",
    "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"
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}